


That's (Not) How Our Song Goes

by ChrysosArgentum02



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Polyamory, Polyfidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23519959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrysosArgentum02/pseuds/ChrysosArgentum02
Summary: Random one-shots of what life in a relationship between these four people might look like in this world and others.Title from 'Our Song' by The Spill Canvas
Relationships: Pernille Harder/Magdalena Eriksson/Ingrid Engen/Marie Dølvik
Comments: 46
Kudos: 54





	1. Clothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pernille is back in Denmark for a match against Georgia and is about to unpack in her hotel when she realizes her luggage is lighter than it should be. She could have sworn she packed more clothes than this.

Pernille looked at the inside of her suitcase, which was definitely missing items she knew for a fact she had packed, and couldn't stop the corners of her lips from turning up slightly as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her girlfriends had a bit of a bad habit. One that kept her torn between being annoyed, amused, and endeared. Okay, fine, she found it mostly endearing and honestly couldn't stop her heart from swelling whenever said bad habit arose, but it was still a problem.

The problem was that whenever an article of clothing mysteriously vanished from Pernille's closet, suitcase, or general possession, nine times out of ten she could find one of her girlfriends wearing it. Pernille had always figured this would be Ingrid's problem, she was the tallest after all. Or maybe even Magda or Marie, both of which tended to wear loose-fitting and baggy clothes that would fit on all four of them. She never would have guessed that she, the smallest of the four and most likely to wear more form-fitting items, would have to deal with this.

At first, she thought it was an accident. Four people living in one space was bound to lead to some possessions getting jumbled up, especially when it was four girls with pretty similar senses of dress. She and Marie both have a couple of nearly identical black baseball caps and beanies, and she knows Magda has shirts that are similar to her own. Not to mention that she and Ingrid both play for Wolfsburg, so it was a given that training and warm-up gear would sometimes get mixed up between the two, even with a four inch height difference. Athletic wear, sweatshirts, button-up shirts, plain white t-shirts, all of these could be found in large numbers between the four of them and it was easy to accidentally grab someone else's stuff.

However overtime, Pernille noticed these clothes mix-ups happening more and more frequently, and that they seemed to happen with her clothes more than any of the other three. She started to suspect that maybe it wasn't an accident when she was scrolling through Instagram and saw a picture Marie had posted wearing a bright pink beanie that Pernille had been unable to find since Marie had gone back to play for Vålerenga Damer, a beanie that they all knew damn well Marie would never buy herself. Her suspicion was confirmed even more when she saw Ingrid going through the laundry for pants, pick up and check the number on both Wolfsburg shorts that were tossed in, and grab the pair marked #22 instead of #15. Her beliefs were finally proven when she saw Magda stride into her room one day and grab an entire outfit directly out of her closet, then walk out as if she hadn't just robbed Pernille in broad daylight. With all this evidence compiled, it became glaringly obvious that her girlfriends had somewhat of a kleptomania problem. 

From then on, it became the new normal for Pernille to meet up with her girlfriends in person or over FaceTime and find them all wearing her clothing. Pernille knew when she called them later she could expect to find the articles of clothing that had vanished from her suitcase in their care, which is exactly what happened. Before she went to bed that night, Pernille video called the other three and was not at all surprised when she found Marie in one of her beanies, Ingrid wearing a pair of her shorts, and Magda huddled up in one of her sweatshirts. She looked blankly at her webcam for a couple of seconds, letting her eyes scan slowly over each of the stolen items, letting them know that she knew full well they ransacked her luggage, before sending them all an exasperated look and jokingly swearing revenge, to which the three simply smiled back at her. 

Because they knew that no matter how annoyed she pretended to be, she secretly loved it. Every time they stole her clothes they would pay her back in affection, and Pernille was nothing if not a total sucker for cuddling and kisses. Domestic shit was Pernille's, and frankly Magda, Marie, and Ingrid's, weakness, and they would steal her clothes to gain full advantage of surprise hugs and fond smiles.

So maybe the clothes stealing habit wasn't that much of a problem, but Pernille would complain about it anyway because - 

"Oh come on! Did one of them seriously take my favorite Nike sweatshirt?!"


	2. The Couch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What better to do on a day off than take a nap?

Having an entire day off in the middle of the week was rare. A day when there was no practice, no meetings, no scheduled team outings, and no reason to get dressed and leave the house. And Magda planned to take full advantage of it.

Having just finished her breakfast, Magda wandered over to the couch and stretched out, basking in the rare occurrence of a sunny German day. The shades were drawn open, sending a ray of light across the couch, not too hot to make her cotton t-shirt and black shorts stifling, but just enough to warm her to a comfortable degree. She briefly debated turning on the television before deciding against it, opting instead to just close her eyes and lay back to enjoy the peace and quiet. God was she glad they paid a little extra for this couch because right now it felt like the most comfortable thing she had ever felt in her life. The world seemed to be fading from her mind as she felt herself drifting off. Slowly, slowly being lulled into sleep. But of course, that went right out the window when she felt a weight settle on top of her.

"Seriously? You know we have like, at least five other pieces of furniture you could be laying on right now, right?"

"Yeah, but those wouldn't come with a personal space heater now would they?"

"You grew up in the article circle, you can survive the cold. More specifically, you can survive being about one degree colder in the chair right over there"

"I'm good"

"Where have you been anyway? I didn't see you this morning"

"I went out and got my face tattooed. A big one. Covers my whole head"

"Funny"

Magda's deadpan remark was met with silence.

"Marie? Oh my god are you serious," Magda's eyes shot open and she immediately looked down at the younger girl on top of her. Upon finding that there was no tattoo on her face, she groaned. "You are such an ass" Magda grumbled more insults under her breath but was mostly drowned out by Marie laughing at her.

"Too easy. Too, too easy. Nah, but actually I just went out on a quick run. I woke up early and was getting fidgety. Did you really believe I would tattoo my whole face?"

"No offense, but I don't exactly associate you with impulse control," Magda punctuated her statement by poking at some of Marie's visible tattoos on her neck, hands, arms, torso, and legs. She even used her toe to tap the tattooed paragraph on Marie's foot. "Sometimes I have trouble even associating you with common sense"

"Okay, yeah, that's fair. Are Pernille and Ingrid still asleep?"

Magda began to answer but was cut off by footsteps. 

"Nope, I'm up," Pernille answered. "Ingrid is still asleep though. Hey, got any room for me over there?"

"No"

"Yes!"

"Perfect!"

Despite Magda complaining about how she was here first and how maximum capacity limits are a thing, she found herself moving over to make room for Pernille. Pernille flopped down on the couch, half of her landing on Magda in the process. After a couple seconds of shifting, the three found themselves in a comfortable position, with Magda in the middle and Marie and Pernille on either side. Pernille's head was resting on Magda's shoulder while Marie tucked her head against Magda's neck, their legs tangled together. Magda readjusted her arms so that her left was around Pernille's waist, her right arm wrapping around Marie's shoulder, her hand coming to rest at the top of the youngest of the three's head.

Marie had both of her arms pressed against her chest as her entire body curled against Magda's side. Pernille reached over with her left arm, her right being trapped underneath Magda, and gently tugged on Marie's right arm, forcing her to move it to lay against Magda's abs. Softly, Pernille intertwined her fingers with the tattoo-covered fingers of the other. The three typically energetic girls found themselves enjoying this moment of stillness, content to just lay in a pile together.

"I wake up to an empty bed and find the three of you cuddling down here without me. Should I feel offended?"

"Believe me, this was not my intention. They ambushed me" Magda said jokingly.

"Always room for one more if you want in" Pernille said, wiggling her eyebrows and removing her hands from Marie's so she could extend it out in an inviting gesture.

Grinning, Ingrid trotted over, waited for Pernille to move on top of Magda, and then claimed the space Pernille had previously occupied.

"No, no. That's cool. I don't need to breathe or anything. I'm good" Magda muttered from where she was underneath the three other girls.

"Glad to hear!" Came the teasing reply from Ingrid.

Once again, the, now four, girls shuffled a bit in order to find a comfortable position. Marie was still tucked against Magda's side with her head against her neck but now had her left arm pinned under Magda, her right laying limp around Pernille's waist. Ingrid mirrored Marie's position on Magda's other side, except with her right arm under Magda's neck instead. Pernille was comfortable directly on top of Magda's chest, each arm lazily slung out to the side, her left hand tangled in Marie's hair and her right hand underneath Ingrid's shirt, resting on her back. And poor Magda was at the very bottom, trapped with no escape unless her girlfriends let her up. In an attempt to avoid her arms going numb, Magda had propped her elbows against the armrest of the couch and let her head fell back against her hands.

"That's everyone, right? A fourth person isn't gonna come out of nowhere and crush my lungs even more?" Magda asks.

"I can always invite Frido over if you want. Maybe ask if Sarah and her boyfriend are free and let them join" Pernille says, pretending to consider the idea.

"Nope. Absolutely not. We are all good over here" Magda says quickly, prompting the other three to laugh at her.

"I don't know, Frido's boyfriend is out of town. She might be lonely" Marie says, voice laced with mock concern.

"She'll live. I, however, might not," Magda dramatically took a deep breath. "I'm suffocating under here. I might not make it" Her dramatic tone was not matched by the fact that she moved her arms to securely lock around Marie and Ingrid, holding them in place against her. 

With a mental note in the back of her mind to consider getting a bigger couch, Magda let herself drift to sleep, the other three following shortly after. They spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping in their Nordic pile on the couch. Magda didn't get days off very often, and she rarely got days when the other three were in town and also had days off, so she let herself enjoy the moment. She would never admit it out loud, she did have a reputation, but she felt warm and comfortable, and being snuggled with them made her feel loved and safe. Maybe maximum capacity limits are bullshit. At least in this situation.


	3. Hogwarts AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magda can't figure out why everyone in the Ravenclaw common room is staring at her and snickering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to finish up school and then got Covid immediately after and was sick for four weeks but I'm back on my bullshit. These four are just my excuse to have a bunch of extremely different dynamics, all of which I love, existing in one relationship

Magda was going to snap. Since she had returned to her dorm from a study session with Pernille, Ingrid, and Marie in the Hufflepuff's room, all of her housemates had been staring at her, occasionally snickering and whispering quietly. Even Magda glaring at them had no effect, which was unnerving considering invoking the wrath of a prefect was not something anyone at Hogwarts would willingly do. Seriously, what was up with the people in her house? Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart, or so she thought. Were they all really trying to piss her off? What were they even laughing at? Her internal ranting was cut off by Hanna Glas walking over to her, smiling in amusement.

"I think you're taking the whole 'playing for the other team' thing a little too far"

"What?" Of all the things Hanna could have greeted her with, she was not expecting that. Playing for the other team? Obviously, it was a gay joke, ha ha very funny, but how was she taking it too far?

"Either I'm colorblind or you suddenly became a Hufflepuff" Was all Hanna said before laughing and walking away.

Oh shit. A simple glance down gave her the answer to every question she had been thinking since she stepped foot in the Ravenclaw dorm-room. The snickering and whispering made a lot more sense now and of course her housemates were less inclined to take her seriously while she was wearing the necktie of another house, a sloppily tied necktie that looked as if it had been through a tornado at that. She must have accidentally grabbed Marie's tie when they were rushing to get back to their own rooms by curfew.

She was so blaming this on Pernille and Marie, those two annoying little brats who just had to distract them from their study session and make them lose track of time. Okay, it probably wasn't fair to put the blame entirely on the two of them, Magda certainly hadn't put up much of a fight to redirect their attention back to doing their work, but it was easier to act like it was totally on them. Besides, this wasn't the first time Pernille and Marie had derailed their attempts at studying. This wasn't the first time Pernille and Marie had derailed literally anything, really. Not even close. Those two had an awful habit of getting bored and antsy if they had to sit still and behave for more than ten minutes. The two were like puppy dogs wanting attention and exercise 24/7. It was honestly completely predictable, their shenanigans always happened the same way each time. 

It would begin with Marie starting to fidget, maybe throwing a paper ball or something at the others to try and get their attention, before homing in on Pernille and directing all her efforts on getting Pernille to join her in messing around. Pernille would break easily, taking any excuse to stop focusing on work. She would feel too blameworthy about stopping her own studying, so it was easier to allow Marie to persuade her out of work so Pernille could pretend like she never would have broken concentration otherwise. With two against two, it then just became a matter of figuring out what to say and do to get Magda and Ingrid to give into them. There was no beating them once they had their minds set on not being productive, they were just too damn stubborn, changing their schemes until they got a reaction. If making comments about how much better Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were in comparison to Slytherin and Ravenclaw didn't get a rise out of them, Pernille and Marie would switch to being flirty, placing a hand on Ingrid or Magda's thigh or kissing along their neck and collarbone. If being flirty didn't work, they might switch back to trying to antagonize the other two. Sometimes, they would get petty enough to just grab things out of Magda or Ingrid's hands or sit on one of their laps. Once Marie and Pernille finally succeeded in finding the right button to push to sidetrack the other two, it was all over. From there they would get lost in their own world of four until something came along to force them to stop.

Some days it was easier to convince Magda than others. Today, for example, there were no upcoming tests and it would be a couple days before her next Quidditch game, so going with the two troublemakers' distraction tactics was all too tempting. It had started as taking a break from studying to have a casual conversation about Quidditch, bragging about their own team or making fun of the others' teams. Knowing their personalities, it was no surprise that the conversation got a little heated, each claiming they could absolutely beat the other three easily. With the dominant sides of all four coming out to play, it then turned into a different kind of heated situation. Luckily, Ingrid has spared a glance at the clock in the middle of their messing around and had quickly alerted them that it was almost curfew. Hastily reorganizing themselves in the darkness of the evening, they helped try and sort out each other's clothing before Magda, Pernille, and Ingrid were rushing out of the Hufflepuff bedrooms.

Brought out of her memories by some idiot's particularly loud giggle, Magda considered yanking off the Hufflepuff tie from around her neck, before realizing the damage had already been done and instead choosing to walk to her room with as much dignity as she could muster. She hoped Pernille and Ingrid had either gotten the correct ties or had realized the mistake before entering their dorms.

-

"I feel so betrayed, how could you do this to your own house, Ingrid?"

"Shut up Sara"

"Wearing a Gryffindor tie in the Slytherin commons? This is blasphemy! I can't believe you're fraternizing with the enemy! Actually, I can. You four are the most obvious people in the world. But still! My poor poor fragile heart"

"Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir I will murder you"

-

"You know that wearing the tie of a Ravenclaw won't make you smarter, right Pernille?"

"And you know that making fun of your house prefect and Quidditch captain won't secure you a spot on the Gryffindor roster, right Ella?"

"Kidding, kidding, love the look! Blue looks just dashing on you. Hey, I think I hear Babbet calling me, gotta go!"

"Babbet isn't even in our house!"

-

"Hey Frido, did you need something?"

"It's pretty dark in here, so I figured I'd let you know in case you decide to head into the commons and can't see the color of the tie you're putting on, you probably don't have your own right now. "

"Hmm?"

"I saw Magda, Pernille, and Ingrid rushing out of our dorms with the wrong ties on, so you probably have one of theirs"

"Oh, yeah, I know. Who do you think handed them the wrong ties?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarification:
> 
> Gryffindor - Pernille and Ella  
> Slytherin - Ingrid and SBG  
> Ravenclaw - Magda and Hanna  
> Hufflepuff - Marie and Frido


	4. BNHA! AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship of U.A. students Pernille Harder, Magda Eriksson, Marie Dolvik, and Ingrid Engen as seen through the eyes of Pro Hero and U.A. English teacher, Hizashi "Present Mic" Yamada.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading this might require some knowledge of My Hero Academia but I think you can still follow along even if you don't know the series. In depth explanation of their quirks can be found in the end notes.

Really, the only reason he was so invested in keeping an eye on those four was because he cared about all of his students. Ask anyone, Hizashi Yamada was nothing if not a caring guy. Actually, maybe don’t ask Shōta, he would just say he’s annoying. But besides Shōta, most people would say he's a caring guy. Yes, he did like gossip, but doesn’t everyone? Who wouldn’t want to know if Neito Monoma was related to Himika Toga? Or if Juzo Honenuki was secretly a Titan? Could Izuku Midoriya be the love child of All Might? Hitoshi Shinso and Eri the adopted children of Aizawa? Was Dabi secretly the son of Pro Hero Number 1 Enji Todoroki and hooking up with Pro Hero Number 2 Hawks? Is Miruko dating Fuyumi Todoroki? Damn, that Todoroki family had waaaay too much drama. But honestly, the whole world cared about these things. Gossip and drama were a key part of the whole superhero business. Hell, if he had a dollar for every time he saw people wondering about his relationship with Shōta, he wouldn’t need to be an English teacher anymore. But really, it wasn’t that he was being nosy into some high schoolers' personal lives, it was that he cared for and wanted the best for them. 

It had all started during the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, which was when he first took interest in the four surprisingly powerful freshmen.

The students had been put at the U.S.J. training facility to work at rescue skills with their homeroom teacher, Shōta Aizawa, along with the school’s rescue training specialist, Thirteen, when a random group of villains had attacked. Hizashi had been panicked of course, a group of 24 high school freshman being thrown into a life or death situation would scare the shit out of any individual with a heart, so after the cleanup and rescue work had been done he hunted down Aizawa to make sure all the kids were okay. When he found Aizawa, he was already talking with the school principal, Nedzu, so Mic decided to stand by and listen in. He was relieved to hear that all 24 students of class 1-A had made it out alive, but he also overheard something else. Something that caught his attention and gripped it for weeks.

Apparently, several of the freshmen had faced the villains head-on and had actually won. There were a couple stories that stuck out the most. The first was that of Shoto Todoroki and Marie Dølvik, who simply froze every villain in ice and walked past them. The second was Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta, who had surrounded the villains with Mineta’s quirk and then trapped them in a vortex of water with a powerful flick of Midoriya’s finger, allowing Asui to bring them to safety while the villains were stuck. Lastly, and most impressive, was the story about how Pernille Harder, Magdalena Eriksson, and Ingrid Engen had worked together to stop the infamous villain Kurogiri. Ingrid had used her quirk to locate him and discovered his neck-brace as his only weakness, giving Magda the idea to use her super-strength to toss up a boulder for Pernille to control and pin Kurogiri down at the throat. 

A group of high school freshmen taking down actual villains despite very little professional training. Incredible! The names of those students, the students that had faced down serious enemies and come out on top, stuck in his mind. Mentally, he noted to keep an eye on them, make sure they were being pushed and challenged to truly unlock their potential. Overall, Hizashi had very high hopes for these future heroes and knew he would be keeping an eye on Pernille Harder, Magdalena Eriksson, Marie Dolvik, and Ingrid Engen.

When the annual U.A. Sports Festival started up a week or so after the U.S.J. incident is when things changed from observing future heroes to worries over teenage drama. While at first, he had simply been interested in them on an individual level based on their skill, he began to take notice of the four of them as a unit at the Cavalry Battle in the U.A. Sports Festival.

It was his job as the festival announcer to take note of every competitor, every quirk, who seemed strong, who seemed weak, what potential rivalries were forming, and any other interesting topic he could find to entertain people tuning in. His job was to entertain the masses. Keep them on the edge of their seat and clamoring for more of the young heroes. He needed to be paying close attention to everyone, and that he did. He had been commentating on how Uraraka and Hatsume were the only people willing to pair up with Midoriya, crafting some love triangle drama in his head to engross listeners, when he noticed an odd group of four forming. 

Pernille had approached Magdalena, Ingrid, and Marie to ask them to be in her group. Sure, it was a smart strategy to pair up with them considering they were all very powerful and Pernille knew she worked well with Magda and Ingrid, but all four were extremely competitive. This was something that had been observed early on when during the obstacle race part of the festival they had taken any opportunity to get ahead, even if it meant screwing over someone else. He had assumed that Pernille would want to team up with moderately powerful people to focus on knocking those three out. Pernille could have teamed up with people who had semi-powerful quirks to support herself, giving herself a chance to remove the other three in this stage. That was what Shinso had done, using people who weren’t very powerful on their own to knock out people who were, allowing him to easily eliminate his previous teammates when they were in a one on one fight. So why would she want to help guarantee that her three main competitors got to the next round?

His confusion and interest in the quartet was heightened during the final sports festival event, the one on one battles.

Magdalena had been paired against Ingrid. It was not the most fair match up, as it boiled down to Magda rushing at Ingrid and shoving her out of the ring with brute strength. There was only so much Ingrid’s telepathic distractions and natural fighting abilities could do against an invincible foe with super strength. Ingrid’s power was much more suited for scouting and working with other heroes, so although she was certainly a gifted fighter and very strong, one on one she was at a slight disadvantage. For some reason though, Magdalena had actually looked slightly guilty at eliminating Ingrid, glancing over at her as if to make sure she hadn’t hurt her as they walked away. Magda certainly hadn't looked guilty about shoving some kid in front of the robot villains in order to get ahead during the obstacle course.

Then there was the finale match up of the tournament, which was Pernille against Marie. Pernille’s strategy was to kick up dust and try to cloud Marie’s vision, dodging Marie’s attacks and redirecting anything Marie threw at her right back. If Marie used an explosion quirk to blast apart the ground, Pernille would redirect that shrapnel at her. If Marie used any type of emitter quirk, like a fire blast or an electricity quirk, to try and attack Pernille, Pernille would just draw as many minor particles from the air as she could to shield herself. All in all, the match was close. Marie was so tired she was crawling on her hands and knees by the end of it, but a lucky blast of an air cannon quirk she had acquired knocked Pernille out of the ring. However, it was what came after that had Hizashi the most stunned. After beating Pernille, Marie had offered her a hand up and asked if she wanted to train with her later on. At least that’s what he assumed Marie had said, she was kind of stuttering pretty heavily during the whole conversation. What did she have to be nervous about? She won! Maybe she didn't want Pernille to be mad at her. Those four sure had become on pretty close terms pretty quickly.

He thought he had figured it out when the festival was finally over and classes had started up again. He noticed the four of them spending a lot of time together, training, eating lunch, studying, or just hanging out, and realized they were just making friends. It made perfect sense that foreign students at a Japanese school would be drawn to each other, especially considering two of them were from the same country. He was actually proud to see four highly competitive students taking the time to train and study with each other, helping the others to improve instead of just focusing on themselves. Katsuki Bakugou had called everyone in his class a bunch of pathetic extras and told anyone who asked to train with him to fuck off, claiming he would be number one and everyone else could eat shit. So, yeah, a little comradery was a good thing. It was important for heroes to know how to work together and get along.

Then things got weird. Real weird. After observing for a while, he noticed Marie and Ingrid walked to class holding hands every day, so he figured those two were dating, and he constantly saw Magda kissing Pernille’s cheek, so those two were probably dating too. Two couples who were close friends with each other. Makes sense. Except it fucking doesn’t and that idea got flipped on its fucking head when he saw Marie kiss Pernille after knocking her a little too hard during a training session. What?!? And then Pernille was sitting in Ingrid’s lap in the dorms? Everything was just so damn confusing. Ingrid and Marie walked to class every day holding hands, but Magda and Ingrid were found cuddling on the dorm couch, and yet he had also seen Magda and Pernille kiss in the hallway before his English class. Suddenly those four were never apart and they all seemed to be a little too touchy with each other for just friends. Is that how they did things in Europe? What the hell kind of friendships do they have there?

Which leaves Hizashi to where he is now, doubting everything he knows about European culture and wondering how appropriate it was for a teacher to inquire into a student’s relationship. He was seriously starting to become worried that maybe there was cheating going on and somehow none of them were aware of it. He wanted so badly to confront them on it, make sure that all of them were aware of what the other three were doing. He just didn’t want any of them getting hurt! Severed friendships (relationships? harems? whatever.) in the hero industry could be bad news and he would hate to see such good allies turn on each other. God, he wasn’t prepared for this kind of thing. He was just an English teacher! And a radio host. And a pro hero. But none of those had anything to do with teen romance.

“Why don’t you just ask Nemuri?” Suggested Shōta, rolling his eyes as he listens to Hizashi ranting about confusing teenagers and their love squares for the hundredth time, his words muffled by the scarves covering his face. “She’s the love expert. Now let me go back to bed.” 

“Ask Nemuri, now why didn’t I think of that!” 

“Because you’re an idiot. Let me sleep.” He rolled over so he was face down in his sleeping bag, signaling how well and truly done he was with Mic.

“We just finished the school day, Eraserhead” Hizashi yelled over his shoulder, already jogging towards Midnight’s classroom. 

No response. Figures. How has Shōta not been fired for sleeping during most of the classes that HE teaches? Probably because the principal of this school is a sadistic bear-mouse-dog hybrid who also hired a person, if you can even call Hound Dog that, who can’t speak properly when energized to be the guidance counselor.

He was making his way through the school to track down Nemuri and ask her if she knew anything about the possible romantic relationships between four of his high school freshman, which sounds so awful when he thinks about it, when he runs into someone’s back.

“Oh shoot, I’m sorry!”

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it. Hey, Present Mic, what’s up?” Of course the person he ran into was Pernille, the person he was snooping into the relationship of. He didn’t want to snoop, he just wanted to make sure nothing bad was going on! He cared about them!

“Eh, I’m, uh, just, um, on my way to talk to Midnight. Yeah, I have to talk to her about, uh, something. Nothing important really. Hero stuff. Pro-Hero stuff. That students can’t ask about. Cause it’s only for Pro-Heroes to know about. What are you up to on this fine day, Pernille Harder?” Hizashi asked in a super calm, collected, and casual manner, careful not to let Pernille think anything was up.

“I’m just getting ready to head out and meet up with Magda, Marie, and Ingrid” Pernille responded, wondering what the fuck was up with her English teacher.

“Is that so? All four of you? Together?”

“Um, yeah… we like to meet up on Fridays for date nights”

“Date nights? Is that so? All four of you? Together?”

“Yes? We like to find time for all of us to get out. It’s hard being in a relationship while going through the hero course, especially with three people. I’m sure you get it” Pernille was really starting to become worried that Mic was having some sort of mental breakdown.

“Totally! Have fun”

With that Hizashi ran off, straight back to Shōta’s room, sprinting full speed back down the halls. Pernille was left standing in utter confusion, wondering why Nedzu hired the strangest of people to work at this place. She shrugged to herself and walked off. Present Mic was always a bit weird, and his weird definitely amplified around her and her girlfriends, but she didn’t care enough to find out why. He was a good teacher and treated all the students kindly so who was she to question any further.

-

“ALL FOUR OF THEM ARE TOGETHER! SHŌTA, SHŌTA! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME! ALL FOUR OF THEM! I WAS RIGHT, I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON THERE! I MEAN I REALLY DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE THAT BUT STILL!”

“Congratulations, you’re officially the last faculty member to figure it out. Now I believe I remember saying something about letting me sleep?”

"Everyone knows? You're telling me even Hound Dog knows?"

"Hound Dog, All Might, Midnight, Vlad King, Snipe, Power Loader, Ectoplasm, I think even Joke over at Ketsubutsu got word of it. Everyone is keeping an eye on the students that did well in the tournament Mic, and not everyone is completely dense"

“So you're saying you knew and didn’t tell me?” Mic whined pathetically.

“You never asked. You always just rant about gossip and I don’t really care enough to listen. Let me sleep.”

-

Pernille walked into the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall food court and quickly located her three girlfriends.

“Sorry, I got held up by Kirishima and Kaminari asking for help with math homework”

“Don’t worry about it, we basically just got here as well” Ingrid said, smiling at Pernille and pulling out a seat next to her for Pernille to take.

“Hey, so the weirdest thing just happened. After I finished helping those two, I ran into Present Mic and he was acting all odd about where I was going. Kept asking questions about if I was hanging out with all four of you together or separately” Pernille laughed lightly as she remembered the interaction with the eccentric teacher.

“He doesn’t know the four of us are dating and has been trying to figure it out for the whole year,” Explained Magda with an amused grin. “He even came up to me one day and started talking about how I should be careful if I choose to date because of how important it is to have good connections in the hero industry. I think he thinks that one of us is cheating or something”

“Well, I guess it’s sweet that he cares, even if it is in his own oblivious and awkward way” Marie remarked, attempting to steal food off of Ingrid's plate and wincing when Ingrid slapped her hand away.

"Oh okay. I just told him we were heading out for date night. I kinda thought he knew by this point but I guess he knows now"

"Damn, you told him?!" Magda groaned, slamming a hand lightly down onto the table. "I had a betting pool going with most of our class and class 1-B on when Mic would figure it out himself. I even convinced Momo to throw in some absurd amount of money into the whole thing."

"Sorry, didn't mean to spoil the game. At least you still have the betting pools on when Mic will figure out about Ochako and Bakugou, or Todoroki and Deku, or Ojiro and Tooru. Man, Present Mic is really oblivious, isn't he?"

"And a little too invested in high school gossip" Ingrid chimed in, grabbing Marie's hand and once again shoving it away from her food.

"He and Midnight both. I heard from Mina that the two of them have a group chat where they gossip about their students" Pernille said with an incredulous laugh.

"I heard about that from Kosei. He said Hawks, Miruko, and Takeyama are in too" Ingrid agreed, finally able to eat her food in peace now that Marie had switched targets.

"Setsuna told me that she thinks even All Might's in on it" Marie added.

"Do you guys think all pro-heroes are this weird or do you think it's only the ones we know" Magda questioned aloud, causing the other three to laugh.

"Probably just ours. Ryuku and Rock Lock seem pretty normal" Pernille pointed out while casually wrestling with Marie over a bag of chips that she noticed had started miraculously levitating closer to the other girl, grumbling and calling Marie a cheater when she uses a larceny quirk to win

"You'd definitely think they wouldn't have time for stuff like that. I thought being a pro-hero would keep them at least slightly busy" 

"Apparently not because I see Mic playing with his own action figure in that toy shop right there" 

Ingrid pointed over to where Mic was making a plush toy version of himself make out with a plush Aizawa. The four girls stared at the scene for a couple seconds before awkwardly turning back to their table. 

"Wow, okay," Pernille drawled as she slowly turns back to the others. "Marie, seriously?!?"

"What?"

"You did not have that much food before I looked over there"

"New quirk I acquired. Just makes food appear. Yup"

"Makes food appear when you steal it from us, maybe" Magda grumbled, pushing Marie's face away as she leaned over to obnoxiously kiss her on the cheek.

"I guess that explains why Mic always acts so weird around us. I noticed it but never really thought much of it. I guess he was trying to figure out what was going on between us" Pernille mused to herself, returning back to the original conversation.

"Yeah, for a guy that gossips that much he really doesn't know what's going on most of the time" Ingrid said as the four of them began to clean up their table, picking up their stuff and walking past the food shops and stores towards the arcade as they continued talking.

"Really, he's a good guy but man is he little dense" 

"A little, riiiiight. I doubt he'd figure anything out on his own without Midnight and the others cluing him in"

"Totally, I bet 10,000 yen that he never figures out about Ochako and Bakugou, calling it right now" Marie announced.

"OCHAKO AND BAKUGOU ARE DATING! HOW HAVE I KNOWN NONE OF THIS. I SWEAR TO GOD IF ERASERHEAD KNEW ABOUT THIS TOO AND DIDN'T TELL ME!" 

"Whoops, didn't think he could hear us"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More in depth explanation of their quirks in case you were curious:  
> Pernille: Projectile (Similar to Itejiro Toteki’s Boomerang quirk)  
> Come on, how could I not give her a power that has to do with controlling the trajectory of objects in motion? She has the ability to control multiple projectiles ranging from objects as large as a building to objects as small as a dust particle. Object has to be in motion for her to control it, she can’t control stationary objects, and the bigger the collective mass of what she’s controlling, the more energy it takes. 
> 
> Magda: Hardening, Strength, + Shock Absorption (Combo of Eijiro Kirishima’s Hardening and Nomu’s Shock Absorption)  
> The ability to maker her body invincible and absorb the impact of things hitting her. I also added that it gives her super strength because I wanted to imagine her lifting buildings and shit with her bare hands.
> 
> Marie: Quirk Copying (Basically All For One’s quirk with some differences)  
> Okay, okay, okay, I know this is super overpowered but I wanted to give her a quirk that uses her tattoos and wasn’t lame -like Able Tarrant, Ariadne Pinxit, or Mark Richards from DC Comics- so this is what I came up with. Did my best to not make her too crazy powerful and utterly unbeatable so here are some nerfs  
> 1\. When she copies a quirk it takes the form of a permanent tattoo on her body, giving her permanent access to that quirk. Getting a random tattoo that you have no control over can be cool (Like getting a small space scene from taking Ochako’s Gravity quirk) or not (Imagine what tattoo you could get from Teruo Hazukashi’s Shame quirk)  
> 2\. Unlike All For One, she doesn’t remove a persons quirk from them when she gives it to herself  
> 3\. She can run out of room on her body, so she can’t just copy infinitely many quirks  
> 4\. She has to learn to use the quirk and isn’t instantly good at it. For example, learning Bakugou’s Explosion quirk would involve getting knocked on her ass many times and she would have to adapt to the nausea from Ochako’s quirk  
> 5\. Using more than one quirk at a time would drain the hell out of her, so it’s best to either stick to using one quirk at a time or using multiple very minor and low energy quirks
> 
> Ingrid: Search + Telepathy (Combination of Ragdoll’s Search and Mandalay’s Telepathy)  
> She has the ability to scan up to 100 enemies to see their location and weaknesses. Is also able to telepathically communicate with a scanned enemy to distract them or possibly hurt them if she like screams telepathically to them #PsychicDamage


	5. Pokemon AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An average morning in the house of the Galar Region's Elite Four

It was 6:00 A.M. and already the household of Galar's Elite Four was filled with noise and motion.

The large house in the farthest southern end of Galar, in a small town called Postwick, almost always seemed to be active. From sun up to sundown, it seemed like there was always something happening in the two-storied, sandy brick house. The few other residents of Postwick never complained about it, though. For as lively as the house was, they were never obnoxiously loud or bothersome, just an energetic bunch. If anything, the Elite Four were extremely popular with the people of the town. The pride and joy of the area to most all of the town occupants. 

You see, Galar had never had an Elite Four before those girls came around. It was kind of embarrassing, really. They had a Pokemon Champion, Leon, who had claimed the title by winning a regional Pokemon tournament, but no Elite Four. Every other region in the world had an Elite Four. Every region except for poor little Galar. News of great accomplishments and triumphs of the crowned 'Four Heavenly Kings' from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos would spread all over the world, astonishing readers and inspiring young children to start their journey into the world of training, but there was never any news from Galar. Somehow, in the history of their land, not a single person had ever collected all ten of the countries' gym badges, much less four different people. Pathetic. 

Some argued that maybe that meant Galar was more powerful. That because the ten badges were so hard to collect, that just meant that the specialized trainers were the best in the world. If it was so easy to get every gym badge from someplace like Kanto, then maybe those gym leaders were just weak and the Elite Four from that region weren't even that good since they didn't have to work as heard. Not to mention that most regions only had eight specialized gyms, meaning that the Elite Four from those areas only needed to beat eight gym leaders, not beat ten like in Galar. People would argue that the gym leaders from Galar were made of tougher stuff, and that it would be way harder to collect all ten of their badges in comparison to the eight badges from the other regions.

But most knew that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, the reality of it was that Galar just didn't have many people who would dedicate themselves and their whole lives to training Pokemon. Most people who lived in this region were farmers or engineers, not trainers. Those who did become trainers did it more as a hobby considering it didn't really pay very well, especially not in comparison to all the other jobs in the region. So, ever since the birth of Galar, there had only ever been gym leaders, no Elite Four. Until one day when word began to spread that four girls, four Galar natives, were making waves in the training scene. 

A girl from Postwick named Pernille Harder had teamed up with three other girls, a native to Turffield named Magdalena Eriksson, and two girls from Hulbury, Marie Dolvik and Ingrid Engen, and the four had set out to be the ones to conquer all ten gyms. The region's people were anxious to see how things would play out. They didn't want to get their hopes up, they had seen people with promise from their area fail at the final stages before, but still clung onto some hope that maybe, possibly, these girls just may be the ones to put Galar's name into the books. The world watched every move the four made, tuning into television stations all over to watch them conquer gym leader after gym leader, hope rising with each victory. One badge turned to two, then three, then four, then five. Those girls seemed to be doing it, they seemed to be taking on the impossible.

As seven badges became eight and eight badges became nine, they were at the final stage of their journey. Each of the four girls had claimed the grass, water, fire, fighting, ghost, fairy, rock, ice, and dark badges. They only need defeat the dragon specialist, Raihan, and then the title of the Elite Four was theirs. The entire world held their breath as the fights played on. Barely a single person was willing to look away from their screen, not being satisfied until all four girls had either achieved victory or failed. I'm assuming you already know the outcome as you most likely read the first sentence of this story, but I'll tell it to you anyway. 

The first to be named victorious was Pernille Harder, who had landed a devastating strike to Raihan's Duraludon with her Luxray before finishing him off with her Boltund. Then Ingrid, who had only her Glaceon and several healing potions left but managed to deal a critical hit against both Raihan's Duraludon and Sandaconda to come out on top. Next was Magdalena Eriksson, who's combination of fighting, water, steel, and dragon Pokemon proved to be a destructive match up against Raihan, managing to make defeating him look almost easy. Finally was Marie Dolvik, who struggled a bit considering the Pokemon types she trained weren't the most effective against rock, ground, steel, and dragon Pokemon, but had strong enough fire and bug Pokemon to come out with a victory. After several grueling hours of non-stop fighting, Galar finally had an Elite Four.

So now that we have concluded today's history lesson into the world of Pokemon, let's see what the house of Galar's gifted, Postwick's Prodigies, the elite exemplars, looks like on a typical Friday morning.

* * *

"Do you think I should add more salt?" Magda asked, looking at her Pancham who was sitting on the counter next to her, sneaking pieces of cut-up peppers and tomatoes any time she looked away.

The Pancham shrugged, clearly more interested in eating than helping.

"Alright, alright. Don't help me, be that way. What about you three? Any preferences?" Magda this time turned to her Lucario, who had walked over and was now standing to her left with her Oshawott on one of his shoulders and her Piplup on his other.

Her Lucario accepted a fork with the scrambled eggs Magda was preparing on it, giving some to himself and then tossing bits to the happily squeaking otter and penguin Pokemon on his shoulders. Lucario gestured to some garlic powder and onion powder next to Pancham, urging him to pass them to Magda, then watched as Magda added some of each before trying it again and nodding his approval. 

"You're right, that is much better" Magda agreed, lightly petting each of her happily chewing Pokemon as thanks for helping out. 

Magda continued to move around the kitchen, chatting to her Pokemon as she added the peppers and tomatoes to the scrambled eggs before setting to work on frying some bacon.

"What are you making?" Asked Marie curiously, who had just come downstairs, fresh out of the shower. "Oooh, nice. Looks good!" Marie moved so she was standing behind Magda with her hands on her waist, her chin resting on her shoulder.

"Help set the table and I'll give you extra pieces of bacon" Magda offered.

"Deal!"

Marie ruffled Pancham's fur and patted the heads of Magda's other three Pokemon that were currently in the kitchen before setting off to get out some plates, cups, and silverware. 

Magda and Marie chatted back and forth about plans for the day, with Marie occasionally sneaking pieces of food to toss to her Umbreon, Flareon, and Houndour, along with Ingrid's Glaceon and Espeon, that were all five laying in a puppy pile in the corner of the kitchen. 

"You know doing things like that is the reason your Torracat is so spoiled" Magda said with a laugh, gesturing to Marie's fire cat Pokemon that was loudly meowing for food, laying on a window sill in the living room.

"Torracat's are selfish little creatures by nature. Besides, it's so much fun to spoil them!" Marie picked up her Houndour and starts kissing him all over, delighting in the happy yipping noises he made in response to the attention. She nuzzled her nose against his fur before putting him down, jogging into the living room with pieces of bacon for her Torracat and her Arcanine. She laid a piece of bacon in front of her Torracat, like a peasant delivering gifts to a queen, then turned to toss the other strip to her Arcanine. She waited for him to finish and then got down on the floor of the living room to wrestle with the furry behemoth.

Marie and her Arcanine rolled around on the floor for a bit until Arcanine won, causing Magda to burst out laughing at the sight of the six-foot, fluffed up Arcanine laying completely on top of her girlfriend.

"True, spoiling them is pretty great," Magda conceded as she took her Piplup off Lucario's shoulder and cradled the tiny water penguin in her arms. She used her index finger to gently rub her Piplup's belly and kissed the top of his soft little head "The four of us are the betas of this household and I don't even mind" 

"Agreed. Our role in this household is to bend to their every need" Marie snorted, voice muffled from underneath the Arcanine's heavy fur.

Magda gently set her Piplup back down on the counter so she could take a couple of pictures and videos of Marie struggling to get out from under the cheerfully panting canine Pokemon. Eventually, after making sure she got some good angles of the defeated Marie, she took pity on her girlfriend and moved over to help her get up.

"Thanks," Marie grinned sheepishly at Magda. "Should we go get Ingrid and Pernille and tell em' breakfast is ready?"

"They're outside training, told me they would come inside in a bit," Magda trailed off and turned to look at the kitchen clock "Well, on second thought, it's been about an hour and a half since they said that. We should go get them"

They both went out the backdoor of their kitchen, into the backyard, where Ingrid and Pernille were still battling it out in a three Pokemon rotation match. Ingrid had her Serperior, Sawsbuck, and Wynaut out against Pernille's Luxray, Boltund, and Zacian. Both showed no signs of slowing down and the piles of full restore spray battles next to each girl suggested that they planned on keeping it that way.

"Boltund! Wild charge!"

"Sawsbuck! Use charm!"

"Luxray, use hyper beam!"

"Pernille, Ingrid! How long do you two plan to be at this?" Magda looked at the two exasperatedly. "It's been almost two hours and breakfast is ready, come on in"

"Two more rounds, please?" Pernille tilted her head and pouted at Magda, silently begging.

"Just this one and then one more! The last one is gonna be the tie-breaker!" Ingrid added, smiling hopefully at Magda.

"Tie-breaker? What are you tied at?" Marie asked, wandering over to pet Boltund while looking between Pernille and Ingrid.

"So far?" Pernille scrunched up her face as she thought, counting out some numbers on her fingers. "I think we're at best out of forty"

"Out of forty?!? Yeah, no way. If a morning training session has turned into at least twenty matches each, I do not trust you two to play 'just two more rounds' in the slightest," Marie and Magda had already turned around and started walking back inside when suddenly Marie stopped and murmured something into Magda's ear. Magda nodded in agreement, causing Marie to turn and call over her shoulder "If you both come inside and eat breakfast with us we promise we'll do a two on two tag team battle afterward"

"You two can even pick a prize and punishment for the winners and losers" Magda included, hoping to tempt the two competitive girls into taking a break.

Pernille and Ingrid paused at that, turning to whisper back and forth for a couple seconds. Pernille said something that clearly caught Ingrid's attention, as her face visibly brightened and she excitedly suggested something to Pernille with animated hand gestures. After a few more seconds of hushed talking, they both nodded at each other and then broke apart with devious grins.

"Deal" They both announced at the same time.

Magda and Marie looked nervously at one another, wondering what on Earth they could have waiting for them if they lose, only breaking eye contact to watch as Ingrid and Pernille happily walked past them into the house.

"We might be fucked later" Magda whispered slowly, looking at Marie, who only shook her head in agreement.

"Come on you two! Quicker we eat, quicker we get to battling!" Pernille yelled out to them, glee apparent in her voice.

"Quicker we get to battling, quicker you two get to losing!" Ingrid joined in with a snicker.

"I take that back, we are 100% fucked later" 

Magda and Marie both sighed in unison and walked into the house, taking a seat at the table to savor breakfast before whatever fate awaited them at the hands of their surprisingly devilish girlfriends.

Despite possible doom in the back of two of the four's minds, they still let themselves enjoy breakfast together, talking to each other and eating while also feeding and playing with any of their Pokemon that wondered up to them while they ate. They discussed some training plans, thinking of how to best prepare for when they would challenge the Pokemon Champion, Leon, in their final step to becoming the number one Pokemon trainers in Galar. Several minutes were spent tossing around ideas for places they could go to catch new Pokemon and find evolution stones, but they then let the conversation taper off into a different subject when it became clear that they needed a slight break from talk of the upcoming feat they were preparing to take on. They knew they had time to plan for their battles against Leon and realized it would probably only stress them out if they talked of nothing but the task ahead. Instead, they switched to arguing about what movie they wanted to watch tonight, a debate that played out similarly each time, yet happened daily;

("What about Kingsman?"

"We've seen that like ten times already"

"And it's still good!"

"We could watch The Matrix"

"If we watch the first Matrix movie then I'll want to watch the sequels and then I'll be reminded of how bad the sequels are and my mood will be killed"

"That sounds like a personal problem"

"Shut up"

"How about not an action movie? How about like a comedy or something?" 

"A comedy, you say? A comedy like Kingsman: The Secret Service, maybe?"

"Don't you start up again"

"We could watch a documentary"

"......"

"Okay, yeah. I figured that wouldn't be happening"

"How about a Marvel movie? I think we own copies of Iron Man and Captain America"

"Can you only think of action movies?"

"We need action to get pumped before we take on the Champ!"

"What we need is a distraction from that. What we need is a horror movie!"

"No"

"Nope"

"Absolutely not"

"How about The Terminator? It's got sci-fi, action, drama, romance, horror, thriller elements, and comedy"

"It also has young Linda Hamilton"

"You two sound like a brochure"

"It's called making a list of points in our favor in order to make our argument appealing"

"God, you're a nerd!"

"Soooooo, Terminator?"

"Sure"

"Works for me")

Once they were done eating, the other three thanked Magda for cooking and helped clean up the table and wash the dishes, moving passed and around each other like a well-oiled machine. With everything cleaned up and put away, another average morning in the Harder-Eriksson-Dolvik-Engen household was concluded, the real day ready to start with even more competitiveness, bickering, tenderness, and fond intimacy.

As for what happened in the two-vs-two battle and the prizes and punishments? That's a story for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The types of Pokemon I think each girl would specialize in;  
> Pernille: Fairy, Electric, Rock, and Ground  
> Magda: Fighting, Water, Steel, and Dragon  
> Marie: Dark, Fire, Ghost, and Bug  
> Ingrid: Psychic, Ice, Poison, and Grass


	6. Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Game night between four highly competitive girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Mario Kart because obviously.

"The next fucking person that fucking targets me and fucking red shells me off a stupid fucking map is getting fucking body slammed. Physically and/or emotionally. I haven't decided yet"

"For the last time, Pernille, no one is targeting you! You just keep getting in the way because you suck!" Ingrid sighed, throwing popcorn into Pernille's face.

"I'm in agonizing pain right now. I'm in last place. I'm always in last place. I haven't won a single, stupid round. Why didn't we just play a co-op game?" The five-year-in-a-row Danish Football Player of the Year, captain of Wolfsburg, and 27 year old grown, adult woman whined like a toddler, pressing the palms of her hands against her face in frustration.

"If we played co-op I wouldn't get to say that I'm winning!" Marie said with a cocky grin

"You're not winning! We're tied!" Magda exclaimed indignantly, pointing to the screen that was currently showcasing their current scores. Marie and Magda were both tied for first at 27 points, both having come in first place one round and second place another. Ingrid was in second place with 20 points, having come in third twice. Pernille was in third place with 14 points.

"We're tied but my name shows up first, so I'm winning"

"I'll fucking choke you out with my bare hands, you clod"

"Kinky" Marie winked at Magda and wiggled her eyebrows, prompting Magda to reach over Pernille and Ingrid so that she could shove the youngest blonde as hard as she could.

They were all currently in England, visiting Magda to cheer her on at her game. They were not, however, cheering her on at the current moment. In fact, all four were silently, well, no, very loudly wishing terrible things upon the others. They were sitting pressed against each other on the small couch in Magda's apartment, Pernille and Ingrid squished in the middle, playing Mario Kart to unwind after having come back from watching Magda play. Why they thought playing a competitive game against each other would relax them is a mystery, but here they were anyway.

"JUST START THE NEXT MAP SO I CAN WIN ONE FUCKING ROUND!" 

"I still can't believe you've lost to the A.I." Magda snorted, causing Pernille to cross her arms grumpily.

"This game is rigged and it sucks. My controller is probably broken"

"My CoNtRoLLeR iS BrOKeN!" Mocked Magda under her breath, causing Marie and Ingrid to snicker

"My uncle works at Nintendo" Marie joined in, poking fun at the eldest of their pack, all of them now laughing at the the sullen superstar.

"Try me. All of you. Actually try me. See what I'll do"

"You're not that intimidating when you're pouting like a child, ya know?"

"I swear on my fucking life..." The rest of what Pernille was saying was just unintelligible mumbling under her breath that the other three chose to ignore. "I will get first place at least once. We have two maps left, I know I can win at least one of them"

"You've got this! I believe in you!"

"I believe in your ability to die by my hands"

Ingrid held up her hands in surrender, slowly leaning away from Pernille while Magda and Marie both lost it for probably the millionth time that night, laughing hysterically at the furious-looking Dane.

"Can I switch seats with someone? I no longer feel safe" Ingrid joked as she side-eyed Pernille, who squinted back at her.

The noises signaling the start of the race began to play from the TV, causing the four of them to immediately shut up, straighten up, and pay attention, acting as if their lives depended on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Leaf Cup.

As Lakitu appeared on screen to start the countdown for the race, Pernille leaned over and kissed Magda full on the lips. Magda fumbled her controller, eventually settling on dropping it in order to grab Pernille, her left hand cupping her face and her right hand grabbing her thigh. Marie and Ingrid were both staring at the scene next to them with rapt attention, loosely holding their controllers and ready to drop them and join in. The opportunity for them to join never came. As quickly as she swooped in, Pernille was pulling away. Magda attempted to follow after and continue the kiss, confused as to why Pernille had stopped so suddenly, but Pernille had already turned back to face the TV. 

Magda blinked in confusion, trying to both catch her breath and process what the hell just happened. Marie and Ingrid weren't fairing much better, their wide-eyed anticipation having turned into perplexed disappointment at the sudden loss of the mesmerizing display. Pernille ignored them, focusing instead on keeping her current first place spot.

"You guys might want to start playing at some point. On second thought, maybe don't. I'm enjoying my lead," Pernille gloated with a smirk, pleased with being able to effectively paralyze them. She genuinely hadn't expected that to work as well as it had. Lesbians, honestly. "Man, this game is so much easier all of a sudden. How are you guys doing back there? Still in last place? I'd hate to be you right now! Losing to all of the A.I. like a bunch of... Hey! Ingrid, what are you doing?!?! Why'd you turn off the TV?!? We didn't get to finish!"

"Oh, we'll be finishing alright"

Needless to say, none of them were trying to come first for the rest of the night.


	7. Moronsexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ingrid Engen realizes she has the world's most specific type: Talented, strong, blonde, Nordic morons.

Sara didn't know what she was talking about, Ingrid was not attracted to dumb blondes! How could anyone claim that? Marie was a child prodigy football player; Pernille is brilliant at math, can speak four languages, and can read a game of football like it's a fucking Dr. Sues book; and Magda is one of the most well-spoken individuals Ingrid has ever met! Sure, they had their moments of idiocy, but it's not like dorky behavior was something Ingrid was specifically attracted to. It's not like the reason she became head over heels for them was because they were occasionally kinda dopey and clueless. Ingrid did not have a thing for dumb blondes. That was the end of it.

Sara was wrong.

She had no evidence.

Ingrid was not specifically drawn to dumb blondes.

The only reason Ingrid was still up and thinking about Sara's statement, along with her parting words that Ingrid should consider when she first found herself falling for her girlfriends, was because she was coming up with stacks of evidence to prove her wrong. That's all. Nothing else.

 _Okay, think about when I first fell for each of them._ Ingrid thought to herself, sitting up in bed and looking at the jumble of pale limbs and golden hair surrounding her, only barely visible from the moonlight streaming through the window.

Her eyes first fell to Marie, the girl she had met the earliest of the bunch.

-

Ingrid could clearly remember when they first met. It was back on June 21st of 2016, at a U19 training camp in Norway. She had already known of Marie, they had several friends in common so she had already been following her on Instagram since back in 2014, but she had never actually met her in person. 

_Alright, when was it that I specifically noticed Marie and thought about wanting to be with her?_ Ingrid thought back on her memories, filtering through a couple of instances where she had interacted with Marie at that camp, but none of them felt right. In all those instances she could remember, she was already nervous to talk to the other Norwegian, so she must have already liked her by that point. Maybe she gained a crush on her before they actually talked to one another?

Yes, that was it! She had been talking to Frida, who had pointed Marie out from a distance, and that was when Ingrid first started liking her.

She thought hard, trying to think of all the specific details. She could remember that she had been one of the last ones to show up to the hotel they were staying at and had been nervously looking for someone to connect with. Frida had approached her, friendly and encouraging, and had invited her to join the rest of the team at the hotel pool. She could recall Frida introducing her to a couple of girls before telling her that she wanted to introduce Ingrid to one of her closest friends, only for both of them to get distracted when their attention was drawn to a group of people laughing loudly near the edge of one of the pools. 

They had both looked over to see what was happening, finding that the group of young footballers were watching a blonde girl with a bunch of tattoos wrestling with another girl, both trying to push each other into the pool. The girl with the tattoos ended up tripping and falling backward into the water, spurring on even more laughter. The girl resurfaced from the water and shook her hair out like a wet dog, a stupid grin on her face despite being defeated.

'That,' She remembered hearing from next to her, which had prompted her to look back to Frida. 'is Marie, the girl I was going to introduce you to.' Frida had finished with a grin, pointing out at the tattoo-covered teen, who, as Ingrid turned back to look at her again, was now posing goofily in front of the pool with some other girls to take pictures.

Ingrid could remember thinking two things.

The first was that this girl was a complete and utter dork, something that stood out as a great juxtaposition to her jacked and inked appearance.

The second thing she had thought was...

Oh yeah...

That's right... 

The second thing she thought was that the girl, Marie, was actually really cute.

Shit.

-

Ingrid drew herself out of her memories, rubbing at her face. 

The first time she had realized she liked Marie was when she was doing something ridiculous. Dammit. 

It was just a coincidence, though. If Frida had pointed Marie out while Marie was doing nothing, Ingrid would have still thought she was cute. Actually, to be fair, she had already known what Marie looked like and knew she was hot, if Frida had pointed her out while Marie wasn't doing anything, she would have had the same impression of her that she got from pictures. The major reason she thought she was cute was that she saw her acting dumb and quirky.

_No, no, that's not true. Don't think that. You would have fallen for her without watching her act like a weirdo._

Except, what if she had seen Marie acting calm or quiet? Would she have been intimidated by her? Afraid to approach her due to not knowing she was super friendly?

_Nope. My first starting to fall for her had nothing to do with her doing dumb shit. It could have been any other action that first caught my attention and made me fall for her. Besides, seeing Marie do dumb shit is pretty normal, that doesn't mean that it's one of the main factors that sparked my feelings for her. Just, move on._

Next, Ingrid's eyes were drawn to Pernille. When did she first fall for the eldest blonde?

-

She was sorting through some memories of her first interactions with Pernille when she remembered. Unlike her memory of falling for Marie, she didn't remember the day and month of when she fell for the other girl, she just knew it was at some point in 2017 or 2018. After she had the year settled in her head, it didn't take her long to remember the exact moment she became infatuated with Denmark and Wolfsburg's captain.

She and Marie were already dating at this point, which is why she was in Germany at that time. She had been visiting her in Wolfsburg and had gone out to lunch with Marie and some of her teammates, which of course included Pernille. 

She could recall being far too anxious to talk with Pernille. She was a fresh-faced twenty-year-old just getting her start and Pernille was a world-class superstar with a ton of accolades; four-time Denmark's best female footballer, two-time Damallsvenskan's Most Valuable Player, two-time 'Forward of the Year' in Damallsvenskan, and Ballon d'Or contender. Ingrid was afraid she would say something stupid or make a bad impression on the famous athlete, so she just stayed mostly quiet, talking mainly with Marie. The only teammates of Marie's that she interacted with during that lunch outing had been Sara and Ella, who were both extremely friendly and immediately made Ingrid feel comfortable despite being a lot older and more experienced.

It wasn't during that lunch that she started having feelings for Pernille, though. She knew Pernille was talented and attractive, but there were tons of girls who she thought were talented and attractive. Welcome to being attracted to women.

No, it was when they went to Sara's place later that night when she first started to admire Pernille in a way that went beyond simply respecting her as an athlete and appreciating her looks.

She had been sitting next to Marie on Sara's couch, gently scratching the top of Marie's head as her girlfriend leaned on her shoulder. She had been fondly staring at the sight of Marie peacefully resting against her when there was a loud crashing sound from the kitchen, followed by loud laughter from several girls. Both her and Marie's heads had shot up, looking towards the source of the noise.

Laying on the floor next to a knocked-over chair had been Pernille. She was holding onto a mostly empty cup that had previously been filled with soda, which was now instead spilled all over her white hoodie. She and Marie had continued to watch as the, surprisingly clumsy, Danish footballer attempted to pick the chair back up while still holding her cup, her movements causing the cup to tip over and spill even more soda on herself. Pernille's attempts at fixing her situation were simply a comedy of errors. Her ability to continue spilling things and dropping things as she tried to make the situation better sent her into a minor cursing spree, the other girls in the room breaking out into hysterical fits of laughter. Looking back on it, it was probably a little rude to just sit and watch without offering to help her, but in the moment she had felt frozen, unable to do anything but look on in enamored amusement. 

She had felt incredibly guilty pining over another girl with her girlfriend right next to her, but when she looked over at Marie, she saw that her fellow Norwegian had the same adoring look that Ingrid knew she must have had on her face as well. She and Marie had shared a look between each other, a mutual recognition and acceptance of useless lesbianism that had them both fawning over the Dane. Ingrid remembered how glad she was to see that Marie seemed to be feeling the same way towards Pernille that she was, thankful that neither herself nor Marie were the jealous type. The two smiled softly at each other to confirm that they were good, before looking back to Pernille, who was uselessly dabbing herself with napkins, repeatedly dropping them and having to pick them back up in the process.

That was the moment. Watching the girl she had thought of as incapable of errors seem more real and human. The moment that had caused her to look upon Pernille with new eyes. She wasn't some invincible super-human, and Ingrid no longer felt that Pernille was on a completely different plane of existence to her.

So that was that. It was when Pernille had looked like an utter klutz that she had first started genuinely feeling smitten over Pernille, a feeling that continued to grow as she then became teammates with her. Watching the elder girl's mix of talent and clumsiness, which makes her the most confusing oxymoron of a person Ingrid has ever met to this day, had caused her to respect, admire, and eventually love her.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

-

Ingrid groaned and put her head in her hands.

_Really?! Really?!?! THAT'S the moment my brain picks out? THAT'S the moment when I decided Pernille was ultimate girlfriend material? I've seen Pernille do some amazing shit! I've also seen her do a lot of stupid and clumsy shit, but still! I've seen her score impossible goals while she was playing against Norway! Why weren't any of those moments when I decided Pernille was date-able?_

_Because you have a thing for dorks_ , a voice that sounded annoyingly similar to a certain Icelandic footballer whispered in her head. 

One more. One more person. One more chance to prove she is not moronsexual. 

_There's no way. This is MAGDA ERIKSSON. There's no way the moment I fell for her was when she was doing something lame. Magda's capable of being dorky, sure, but not often, right? Magda's dorky side doesn't come out that much, it can't have been the reason I first started seeing her romantically_. Ingrid looked over at where Magda was sleeping and silently begged her subconscious to not pick out a memory of Magda being a geek as the moment she fell for her. _Magdalena Eriksson do NOT fuck me over here_. 

\- 

Her memories of first meeting Magda were scattered. She had been in the same place at the same time as the Swede a fair bit due to Marie playing on the same team as Pernille, and then later playing on the same team as Pernille herself. So when was it that she really noticed Magda? 

It wasn't while Marie was at Wolfsburg, that was for sure, so she ruled out all those memories. The closest she had been to Magda at that point was being in the same building, so it had to have been later, after Ingrid joined Wolfsburg. 

She had gone out to lunch a couple of times with Pernille, Magda, and some other teammates a fair amount, but she couldn't remember seeing Magda as a romantic option during those outings. 

A lot of her earliest memories of her and Magda were during group hangouts, but there were a couple times when they were in smaller settings together back then. She started to look back on those times, times when they would hang out with fewer people in more calm settings instead of crowded restaurants or noisy concerts. 

Suddenly, an image popped into her mind. It was her, Pernille, Magda, and Fridolina, the four of them hanging out at Frido's apartment. The thought of that mental picture brought back feelings of warmth. It was her earliest memory of her and Magda that she associated with endearment and affection so that must be the time when she started crushing on her. When was that time? 

It was just the four of them, which helped her narrow it down to times when her teammates couldn't join them due to having other plans. Her, Pernille, Magda, and Frido. At Frido's apartment. They were... watching a movie? No, she only watched a movie at Frido's place once and some other teammates were there. Were they just talking? That didn't seem right either. A board game, that's right! They were playing Monopoly! 

_I wonder how playing Monopoly with Pernille and Magda could possibly having any association with feeling happy_. 

What was it about that night that caused Magda to stick out to her? 

Magda had certainly not been doing very well, and was starting to get progressively more whiny and pushy (literally, pushy. She was straight up shoving people when she landed on their property) as the game went on. At some point, probably around the time Magda realized she was too far behind to win, the Swede had started ignoring the game altogether in favor of throwing the plastic houses and hotels at Pernille's face. Pernille, getting steadily more riled up as Magda antagonized her, eventually just got up and tackled her girlfriend, leading the two into a wrestling match on the floor with her and Frido watching. Magda had succeeded in getting Pernille pinned down and made some ridiculous comment about this being a coup d'etat against mercantilism, which she said made her the winner. 

Ingrid had sat back and watched, giggling at the two. Looking at the scene in front of her, Ingrid had thought that Magda was a really sore loser, an utter dork, and.... 

\- 

"Ughhhhhh. Fuck" 

"Ingrid, is everything alright?" Marie mumbled, looking up at her. 

I'm fine, just... thinking about something that happened during training. Go back to sleep, babe" 

"What's going on?" Pernille sat up drowsily, accidentally landing her elbow on top of Marie's head, causing Marie to sleepily push at Pernille's side. 

"Move your elbow. If you need an armrest than use IKEA furniture over there" 

"Watch it, Inky" Magda grumbled, having been roused by the noise and movement of the other three. 

"You watch it, Muppet" 

"Muppet? What does that even mean?" Magda was now fully awake. 

"You know, like the Swedish chef? From the Muppet's Show" Marie makes vague hand gestures as if that somehow helps her explanation. 

"Goodnight, guys" 

"He's not even speaking Swedish! It's just gibberish!" 

"Sounds like Swedish to me" 

"Pernille, you little..." 

" **Goodnight** , you guys" 

"G'nite" 

"Night" 

"Sleep well" 

Fine, she was a moronsexual. But these were her morons and she wouldn't trade them for the world.

Settling back down into bed, she laid her head on Marie's shoulder and stretched her arm out across both Marie and Pernille. Placing a small kiss onto Marie's neck, she drifted off to sleep, glad that these idiots were hers and she was theirs.


	8. There Has To Be Losers For There To Be Winners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The immediate aftermath of the World Cup final.

Losing sucks.

There’s no other way to put it.

It fucking sucks and that’s the end of it.

Because it’s not just the loss.

No, there’s more to it than that.

Losing isn’t just the feeling when the whistle blows.

It’s not just the crashing realization that your dreams have ended, halted in that moment, so close to the finish line.

That you had come so far, gotten to the finals...

Only to walk home empty-handed.

No, it’s not just that feeling.

Loss is a mixture, a composition of emotions performed by a frenzied orchestra, a prestissimo medley that switches through all different genres, through all different sensations.

Losing is a long, long, long, long drawn-out torture.

A slow-moving process that makes sure to drain you for everything you have.

Loss is an amalgamation, a complex beast.

It’s the hope that you have when the game starts, the eager mix of euphoric anxiety that tells you ‘This is it! This is your moment’

The energy is alive within you.

You’re a tempest.

A loaded shotgun of determination being unleashed upon the field.

Loud.

Quick.

Sparking with the flames of potential.

It's the hope that keeps you fired up, doesn't let you feel tired.

Awake and Alive.

It's the hope that you use to embolden your teammates and yourself when the other team scores.

They've only scored once.

You can catch up.

There's a lot of time.

You will change this.

It’s the hope that you cling to as the time begins to tick down and you haven’t scored.

But it’s fine.

You still have time.

Just keep fighting.

It’s the hope that you try to keep alive within yourself as half-time strikes and your team is still down.

Still losing.

But there’s still more time.

You can make it.

Just.

Keep.

Going.

It’s the frantic maelstrom that gathers force as you fight, desperate to turn the tides.

Desperate to stay above and not drown in the undertow.

Keep fighting.

Please, don’t lose hope.

You still have time.

You can change this.

_There isn’t enough time._

_You cannot change this._

It’s the panic that grips your throat, holding tight as the time falls away and you still have nothing to show for it.

10 minutes.

9.

8.

It’s the feeling of the sweat that pours off you.

7.

Not the burning sweat from running for 90 minutes, but a cold sweat.

6.

The feeling of dread beginning to creep in.

5.

The feeling of hope being lost, replaced with anguish.

4.

**You don't have any time.**

3.

**You can't change this.**

2.

You are going to lose and you cannot fight it.

1.

The whistle blows and the tides crash.

It's the feeling that you’ve lost.

That it’s all over and you’ve lost.

It’s a funny thing, really, how a person can feel everything and nothing at the same time.

How you can feel so filled with emotions that they pour out of you, yet simultaneously feel so hollow that you could shatter at any moment, nothing left inside to keep you in one piece.

To feel weighed down by a cement brick of failure, yet feel so light-headed you could pass out.

So…

Yeah.

Losing fucking sucks.

It’s a feeling that Magda has felt before, a feeling she has become well acquainted with in her years as a professional athlete.

And it never gets any easier.

Always the same pattern, yet you never acclimate no matter how many times you lose.

Because you never expect to lose, never prepare for it.

You always come to win, fight for it, yearn for it, so when the loss comes, it blindsides you every time.

You always prepare to win, never to lose.

Because winning feels good.

Winning is the payoff for all the hard-work you put into every damn second of every damn training session.

Winning gives you the physical reward you crave.

Puts you on a pedestal at the center stage.

People look at you and know you're a champion.

A winner.

Yeah, winning feels good.

Winning is supposed to feel good.

So why does it hurt?

“SWEDEN HAS DONE IT! SWEDEN HAS BEAT NORWAY AND WON THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP!”

She did it!

She, Magdalena Eriksson, captain of the Swedish Women’s National Team, led them to victory!

She should feel elated.

And she does.

But she also feels wrong.

_So wrong._

Maybe it’s because she knows what loss feels like, and can sympathize with the other team.

Maybe it’s because she can put herself in the shoes of those walking towards their family, defeated and worn down.

Or maybe, it has to do with the fact that two of her girlfriends are currently crying on national television.

And she played a direct role in the reason why.

Fuck.

Fucking dammit.

She knows they won’t hold it against her, knows that they’ll understand.

They knew this would be coming.

When both Sweden and Norway qualified for the World Cup, they knew that at least one of their teams would walk away a loser, if not both.

They knew there was a chance that they may be directly responsible for crushing their partners’ hopes and dreams.

But no amount of knowledge could prepare her for how absolutely fucking shitty it felt to watch, no, **CAUSE** , the people you love to break down.

To watch them silently cry, pain written across their features as they do their best to thank the fans before drifting towards their families, and know you were the catalyst.

That she played a role in the agonizing flow of defeat that they were feeling.

She knows they won't blame her, that they'll understand.

After all, they were trying to win just as much as she was.

It’s the reality of playing a competitive sport on opposing teams to your partners.

It's their job to best each other.

They all are just doing what they get paid to do, only with the unfortunate side effect that it sometimes forces them to hurt those they love.

This situation has happened before, it’s happening now, and they all know it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.

But they do what they can, supporting each other and not allowing something like a defeat to break up their relationship.

Their bond is made of stronger stuff, this won’t change anything between them.

They won't let it tear them apart, won't take it personally or hold a grudge against the others for beating them.

But it still riddles her with guilt.

She knows she’ll comfort them when they go home, tell her two Norwegians how well they played and how proud she is of them. Tell them about how damn spectacular they are and how there are more chances for them to win. Hold them close, gently kiss apologies across both of their skin as she rains praise and compliments on them. Hold both of her girls tight against her chest. Assures them that they are better than this defeat.

But for now, all she can do is lightly hug them both before going off to celebrate with her team, trying to ignore the fact that the medal around her neck weighs just a touch too heavy.


	9. After The Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magda is worried Marie and Ingrid will be mad at her after beating them in the World Cup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this while listening to Everything's Alright by Laura Shigihara and ゼロ by Bump of Chicken (two melancholy but amazing songs btw) and had to resist the urge to make everything and everyone sad.

_They should be home by now. It's way past when they said they'd be home. Where are they? They said they'd be home by 22:30 and it's already..._

22:31

Oh.

Exactly one minute had passed since she last looked at the clock.

_Okay, so it hasn't been hours. Feels like it though. They're still late. Why are they late?_

Magda put her phone back in her pocket and continued pacing around Pernille's hotel room (which served as neutral meeting and sleeping territory for the four so that none of the three World Cup participants would have to tread on enemy territory), nervously running her fingers through her hair.

_How long has it been since I last checked what time it is?_

She pulled her phone back out of her pocket and looked.

22:32

_One minute. It has been one minute since I last checked the time. Great. They're only two minutes late, it's probably nothing. Maybe traffics bad. They'll be home soon. I'll just pass the time doing something else._

Magda did not pass the time doing something else and instead continued to pace around the room, only stopping to pull out her phone and check the time every thirty seconds.

22:34

Magda growled under her breath and kicked at the ottoman at the foot of the bed.

"Have something against furniture all of a sudden?" Pernille leaned against the door-frame between the bathroom and the bedroom and looked at Magda with raised eyebrows.

Magda threw her phone onto the bed and slumped into a chair next to it, ignoring Pernille's question.

"Have something against your phone now, too? Didn't realize you have a vendetta against inanimate objects"

"They're late. They said they would be here by now"

"Both of their families leave tomorrow, they probably just want to spend as much time with them as they can before they leave"

Which was true. Magda's family would be staying in Australia for a couple more days and she had already made plans to spend time with her family the next day so that she, and Pernille, could go to a bar with some of the other Swedes to celebrate. Ingrid and Marie's families, on the other hand, would be leaving out in the early morning. This was why, immediately after the game and the awards, the two Norwegians had gone back to their parents' hotel rooms instead of going with Magda and Pernille. But in Magda's mind, the main reason they went with their families and not with her was that they didn't want to see her right now. Or be near her. Or be in the same room as her.

It wasn't like this was her first time beating one of her girlfriends in a match. The four of them had taken each other on in games tons of times. But this was different. This wasn't just a club game. This was a national game. A national game that millions watched. A national game that was considered the most prestigious association football tournament in the world. The World Cup.

Oh God, she had killed their dreams of winning the World Cup. **The World Cup.** If there exists a guide to being the perfect girlfriend, rule number one would probably be, 'don't fuck over your partner's hopes and dreams and make them cry on national television in one of the most widely viewed sporting events in the world'. Something to that extent, at least.

Though, to be fair, if it wasn't her doing it to them, it would have been them doing it to her. Lose-lose situations and all that. 

But even the fact that it was the finals, and they had to fight against each other no matter what didn't ease the guilt.

_They both probably don't want to spend time with me. They're probably upset with me. I bet they won't even look at me when they get here. If they get here. What if they don't come here at all and plan on avoiding me?_

"They're not avoiding you and they won't be upset. Well, they'll definitely be upset about losing, but they won't blame you" Pernille reassured Magda, going to sit on the arm of the chair and gently resting her hand on Magda's shoulder.

"Did I say that out loud?"

"No, I just so happen to know you well enough after 9 years to figure out what you're thinking. Seriously, I guarantee you both of them are just cashing in some much-needed family time"

Magda still didn't look convinced and just made a small noise as she leaned heavily against Pernille.

"It'll be fine, so stop looking like you just kicked a bunch of puppies. You won, babe! I know Ingrid and Marie will congratulate you when they get here. Maybe not a verbal congratulations from Marie, she might be a bit grumpy, but I know both of them are proud of you" Pernille rubbed Magda's shoulder in a soothing motion as she comforted her.

A moment after Pernille finished talking, they both heard the sound of the door opening. Pernille stood up to go greet them, jogging over to wrap both of them in a tight hug. Magda desperately wanted to get up and join them, but her body felt frozen in place, stuck in her mixture of awkwardness and anxiety.

She watched as Marie and Ingrid walked into the room and started changing out of what they were wearing into clothes to sleep in. They looked better than they had the last time she saw them, less utterly depressed, more alive. They certainly weren't upbeat or cheery, but at least it was better than seeing them with their heads hung down to hide falling tears. Which is a thing that she had seen earlier today. Because of beating them in the World Cup. And making them sad. For some reason, her brain seemed to like leading her back to that train of thought no matter what.

She continued to just sit and stare, gripping the arms of her chair, completely unsure how to start a conversation with them. She tried and failed to think of a way to approach this topic (For some reason, 'Hey, how are you guys? How are your families? Oh, by the way, sorry for ruining your chance at almost all footballers dream title' didn't sound great) as the two Norwegians finished getting ready for bed.

"Mags. Magda. Magda. Magdalena. MAGDALENA ERIKSSON"

Magda's head snapped up at Marie calling her, having not even realized she had zoned out in the first place. She looked over and saw that Marie was standing by the side of the bed.

"What?" Magda asked, somewhat timidly.

Marie rolled her eyes. "Get in the bed"

Magda got up and walked over, sliding under the covers next to Ingrid. Marie waited until Magda got comfortable before settling in next to her.

All four of them were just lying next to each other in the bed, side-by-side. Usually, they would be cuddling up at this point, but Magda was too hesitant to just hold onto Marie or Ingrid like she normally would.

A moment of awkward silence settled over the room. Awkward for everyone except Pernille, who was sitting up on the far left side of the bed, propped up on her elbow, and watching in amusement. She knew she could have easily been the one to break the silence, playing third-party in this situation, but she also knew it wasn't her place. This was between those three, they needed to be the ones to do this. She felt it was better if she just sat back and let them talk to each other, and was content to just watch on. The three would be fine, Marie and Ingrid weren't upset with Magda, they just needed to stop being too afraid (Magda), unsure (Ingrid), or stubborn (Marie) to start talking.

Magda sat up, leaning back on her elbows and began to speak, "I'm s-"

Marie cut Magda off, "Don't even think about apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong"

"Still, I'm sorry that it had to be this way. If there was a way for none of us to have to lose I would have taken it in a heartbeat" 

"We know. Magda, we know you weren't trying to sabotage us or hurt us specifically, it was just the way it had to be. You won, and although it does kinda suck that we lost, we are proud of you," Ingrid placed her hand on Magda's bicep, holding on softly. "You've done so well as captain and if anyone had to beat us, I'm glad it was you. You've worked hard and you deserve this"

Magda tilted her head down, burying her face against Ingrid's hair. She stayed there in silence for a bit, before letting out a soft exhale and picking her head back up.

"You both worked hard too. And I'm so fucking proud of you guys. Seriously, don't think for even a second that coming in first place is the only sign of success. You both played incredibly and have come so far since I first saw you guys play" By the end of her mini-speech, Magda had laid back down to wrap her arms around both of them. She placed her left hand on Ingrid's back, slipping it underneath her shirt to gently trace circles against her bare skin, and used her left hand to push Marie's head into the crook of her neck.

"Thanks, love" Ingrid nuzzled her face into Magda's shoulder, near purring at the calming feeling of Magda's strong hand gently massaging her.

"Really, I mean it. You guys were absolutely phenomenal and should be proud of yourselves. Both of you are so damn incredible, so talented. This loss is nothing in comparison to what you guys have waiting ahead of you," Magda's voice was quiet, but her words were spoken vehemently, not wanting even a second of doubt to pass through either of the two's minds. She paused her sentence to place several soft kisses across Ingrid's arm, then her hand, then neck, then finish with one on the top of her head. "You both will have so many opportunities to win all different titles, and even if you don't always come out in first place, I know you'll both still kick-ass and show the world how brilliant you are" She turned over to Marie and repeated the same process of kissing along Marie's skin, communicating a mix of empathy for them and pride in them.

"We feel the same way about you, too. We really are proud of you for winning. I may not have known you personally during the last World Cup, but I could tell you had the drive and command of a fighter. Watching the semi-finals, I had a very strong feeling you were going to come back four years later and conquer as soon as you got the chance"

Pernille snorted in amusement at Ingrid's words, "Isn't that the truth. I don't think Magda would have accepted anything other than first place after 2019" She says, causing Magda to nod her head and raise her eyebrows in honest agreement.

"You truly did deserve that win. With the amount of dedication you've put it since day one, everything with the last World Cup and Olympics, you deserved the pay-off. Thank you for saying those things about Marie and I, but make sure to congratulate and be proud of yourself too. You've more than earned it" Ingrid punctuated her statement with a kiss to Magda's neck.

"Thanks" Magda whispered, smiling softly at Ingrid.

"I'm pissed we lost but at least you won instead of the Americans," Marie gibed, drawing laughter from the others. "I am happy for you, though"

"Believe me, I think anything would have been better than seeing the Americans win again," Magda joked in good-nature, it was nothing personal against the Americans, but it was a little too satisfying seeing them get knocked out. "So, you're not pissed at me then?"

"Nah, 'course not. Your happiness is our happiness and all that. Admittedly, I'm choosing to see our loss and your win as completely separate and unrelated events. But still, you did good and you should feel good about"

"Thank you, Marie" Magda smiled and shook her head in amusement at Marie's unique way of expressing affection.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Ingrid and I are big kids, we'll recover. Go on and enjoy the feeling of winning," Marie paused and lifted her head from where it had been buried against Magda's neck in order to make eye contact. "Really, enjoy it while you can before Norway comes back and murders Sweden the next time"

"Right, totally," Magda said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and lightly flicked Marie's ear, but then soothed the action over with a quick peck on her forehead. "So we're all good then? No hard feelings?"

"We're good, no hard feelings"

"Yup, agreed"

"Good. And if you guys still feel down about this whole thing and need to hear how great I think you are-" Magda began but was cut off by Marie kissing her.

"We're fine, Maggie. Don't worry about it" Marie assured her.

"I mean, personally, I would appreciate hearing how great you think I am," Pernille chimed in. "I've been feeling very left out over here, you three sharing a compliment circle and leaving me out. Cold"

"Does the girl who sets her Skype name as 'The Best' really need an ego boost?"

"Yes"

"Fine, fine. Pernille Harder, you are the single greatest human being who has ever walked the face of this planet and we would all be lost without you" Magda said in the most monotone voice possible.

"Glad to hear it!" Pernille beamed cheekily at Magda, who flipped her off. Magda turned over to turn off the lights, casting the room into total darkness.

"Night. I love you guys"

Three different variations of 'Love you too' and 'Goodnight' were heard. The room was silent before...

"You know, it doesn't matter what the outcome of this World Cup was"

"Yeah? And why's that Pernille?"

"Cause in my heart, all of you are losers"


	10. Women, Amen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pernille moves to Germany and finds a lot of new things to like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe, Pernille played in Denmark and never met Magda in Sweden. Magda, Ingrid, and Marie are also not professional athletes in this.

Pernille had always liked to change things up.

She didn't like to stay in one place for too long, didn't like to let life become a routine. Some people took comfort in monotony, but she never had. Had always preferred to switch things up when life became too patterned. She kept some things in her life the same, week mornings always meant 6:00 jogs and Friday nights wouldn't be Friday nights without making pancakes for dinner, but most everything else needed to be changed up from time to time.

It was why she had moved to Germany in the first place. 

Pernille had woken up after a win with her team the night before and had begun to crave for something new in her life. She was feeling too comfortable playing in Denmark and needed to break from her normalcy. She knew the language, the people, the foods, the culture. She knew the players she played with and the teams she played against. She wanted to not know things. A weird thing to seek out, for some, but for a professional athlete, seeking a different kind of challenge was how you improved. How could she expect to become a better player when she really only saw one style of play? Only ever played against the same teams? So, she had made up her mind and moved out at the first chance she got, which came in the form of an invitation to sign with Wolfsburg Frauen, a football club in Germany.

Adapting to life in Germany was hard, to say the least. Almost as soon as she had stepped off the airplane had she known that adjusting to the pace and structure of Germany would be a feat. German culture seemed to be a complete 180 from life in Denmark. Then, of course, add in the fact that she didn't speak the language and didn't know the lay of the land and it was a recipe for confusion. There seemed to be an ever-growing list of things that would present challenges to her until life could even come close to seeming mundane. A simple trip to the grocery store could leave her wandering around the area for hours. 

And it was wonderful! It was exactly what she needed! Not only was basic living such a far cry from home, but the training she was getting in Germany was a way different experience to training in Denmark. The people, the culture, everything really, was so different! It was the kind of unknown that she had been eager to dive into headfirst. It was what she needed to grow her game and continue to make herself a threat. With all it's new experiences and difficulties, Pernille was loving life in Germany.

All that being said, there were some changes to her normal life that she had not been anticipating.

She knew she would need to learn German.

She knew she would need to swap her kroner for euros.

She knew she would need to find a new apartment and familiarize herself with the area.

She, however, didn't know that she would need to clear room on her counter for a bouquet of flowers.

She didn't know she would need to find room on her shelves for a lot of new books. 

And she really didn't know she would need to be explaining to her parents why she had gotten new tattoos.

No, those last three were certainly surprising.

Those last three were the by-products of the current greatest shake-up to her normal life.

Her route from home to training had always been fairly boring in Denmark. She drove past a couple cafes, an old library, and little pasture before arriving at her destination.

Her route from home to training in Germany was obviously different. She still drove past a couple cafes and a library, but she now also drove past other locations.

In particular, she drove past a flower shop, a bookstore, and a tattoo parlor.

All three of which were very cute and charming places.

And also had very cute and charming owners.

Cute and charming owners that she kept looking for excuses to talk to.

She had only gone in at first because she was exploring the area. She had moved away from Denmark so that she could seek out new things, after all. The three stores looked modern, well-kept, and nicely decorated, and she had just wanted to go in and check them out.

The stores.

She had wanted to go in and check out the stores.

Right.

Now she kept finding herself coming back to those shops at any given opportunity.

Her sister's wedding anniversary was coming up? Looks like she needed to ask that sweet Norwegian skyscraper if she had any recommendations for flower arrangements.

Her nephew's birthday was around the corner and she needed a gift? Well, kids loved books (maybe) so she might as well ask that nerdy supermodel of a Swede if her store had a kid's section.

She wanted to find a way to honor her granddad's memory? She had always liked his saying, "as long as you're happy", so getting it tattooed on her by that wide-eyed, puppy-like, walking art gallery made perfect sense.

She was constantly looking for reasons to go in and talk to them whenever she had the chance. Well, it was more staring at them dreamily and occasionally stuttering out a word or two, but the point still stands.

She just couldn't help herself! All three were magnetizing in their own ways.

The tall owner of the flower shop, a younger girl named Ingrid who had the most hypnotizing green eyes Pernille had ever seen in her life and perfectly silky black hair that shone like polished obsidian even in the shoddy fluorescent store light, had seemed shy at first. She had quietly let Pernille know to ask if she needed help with anything then had gone back to tending to some of the plants behind the counter. As soon as Pernille asked her a question about something, though, she bloomed to life like the greenery surrounding her, delicate and vivid all at once. The way she could talk about her craft, explaining things to Pernille about different meanings and care-taking methods, in a way that was so passionate yet still gentle and calming was adorable. Pernille had never been all that interested in flowers before, yet found herself coming in day after day, asking all different kinds of questions just to keep the other talking. And while she would have done anything really so she could stare at Ingrid and listen to her for hours, she was also genuinely learning things about how to keep a plant alive for longer than one day! Her apartment looked and smelled nicer than it had in her life!

Then there was the bookstore owner, the handsome Swede with the crooked smile, Magdalena. Pernille hadn't been sure what to make of her at first. She had an aura of intensity about her, the type who seemed to command leadership, but had a co-existing air of approach-ability. Pernille had her pegged as the strong but silent type, which was pretty accurate, but after she got to know her better she realized Magda was also a huge nerd. An endearingly interesting and well-informed nerd. When she had been able to draw the other girl out of her shell a bit, Pernille was blown away by how much she knew. She could talk movies, cooking, music, sports, math, science, history, politics. She played the guitar, Pernille's favorite instrument, and had a Bachelor's degree in Political science while also currently taking a course in Feminist Theory and Inter-sectional Power Analysis. It was as if there wasn't a single subject that Magda wasn't able to talk on! It was so easy to get wrapped up in conversation with her, their discussions able to flow easily and go to all different subjects. And her voice! God, she had the most pleasant sounding voice in the universe. Soft and slightly raspy, a quality that got even more pronounced in the early mornings, which she had discovered when she had dropped in after her usual morning run and had almost passed out at how deep and husky Magda's voice was. The name of the bookstore, True Value Of Minerva, was extremely fitting, as Pernille had become convinced that this girl was actually Minerva herself. A Goddess of knowledge and wisdom, features chiseled from stone like a statue. Which isn't even an exaggeration. Magda had lifted her shirt to wipe sweat off her face after moving a large stack of books (that no human being should be strong enough to lift. More points in the 'actually a God and not human' category) and had once again almost driven Pernille to an early heart failure. Picking up coffee after a run and stopping by to talk with Magda was really becoming a huge highlight of her German living.

And of course, the dork of a tattoo artist who, in contrast with her muscular and ink-covered appearance, was quite possibly the sappiest human being Pernille had met in her life. Pernille had always liked the look of tattoos and wanted a couple for herself, so when she had walked past Culture Shock she knew she had to make an appointment; new year, new location, new her. It was just an added bonus that she was being inked by someone cute if a little strange. At first glance, the frown set on the girl's face had made Pernille a bit hesitant to approach her, and she had seemed a bit standoffish, only giving a small jerk of her head to acknowledge that Pernille had entered the store. But after, what, 0.2 seconds of conversation, Pernille realized the artist was just awkward and had a bit of a resting bitch face. Honestly, the girl had no right looking that serious and intimidating when she was such a hopeless romantic. She reminded Pernille of a pit bull that her neighbor owned, all wide-set shoulders and jacked arms, burly and scary looking, but a total fucking softy with massive doe-eyes. The type who's gawkiness can accidentally come across as gruffness. Who's more cuddly and affectionate than they seem. Upon closer look, one would learn that Marie's tattoos actually fit her personality well. Simple designs with a comfortable feel to them. Pernille liked the bow with the three loaded arrows on her forearm and the small square with disconnected lines right below her collarbone the best. Even some of the stranger tattoos, like the self-aware tattoo man on her arm and the burning house on her bicep labeled 'the best time of your life', had their own peculiar charm to them. Pernille looked forward to days when she had free-time to drop in and chat with Marie about different tattoo ideas, talking with each other for endless lengths of time about different designs and where to put them (Marie had made it very clear she did not approve of the location of Pernille's first tattoo. Said it looked out of place and didn't flow with the natural build of her arm. She had been holding onto and tracing her finger across Pernille's arm while saying this and Pernille hadn't recovered until weeks later). And even though Marie didn't talk much when she was actually working on Pernille's tattoos, the cute look of concentration on her face more than made up for it.

So, during her first four months of staying in Germany, she had acquired three bouquets of flowers that she really needed to find people to send to, a pot of bluebells that she was barely keeping alive, two new cookbooks that she would probably never be touching, a book on how to play the trumpet even though she didn't even own a trumpet, and two new tattoos with an upcoming appointment for a third.

It was starting to become kind of a problem.

A problem that she would solve another time, however, because at the current moment she was trying to build a new shelf to house the two new books and vase of flowers she had added to her collection this morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The complaint about Pernille's tattoo is a genuine complaint I have. You need to take the shape of the human body into account when getting tattoos! It looks weird to just put text on a random space of your body!


	11. I'll Be The Protection When You Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pernille, Magda, and Ingrid are in Norway to watch Vålerenga play where Marie gets injured during a game.
> 
> **Warning: Mentions of blood and a couple kinda graphic descriptions. Most of the graphic stuff is between headers 2 and 3 if you'd rather not chance it and skip it instead.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from circa1893:  
> "If I may ask, is there any chance we could get a chapter where one of them gets injured during a game, so all of them comfort whoever gets injured when they get home?"
> 
> Title is a reference to Us Against The World by Killswitch Engage. Good song if you like heavy metal like I do.

_Oslo Helse Legevakt, Oslo, Norway; 20:43_

Pernille, Magda, and Ingrid were all three sitting impatiently in the waiting room, anxious to be able to see Marie.

"Is it supposed to take this long?" Magda asked, clearly becoming more and more grouchy. Being able to briefly see Marie before they took her into surgery had calmed her down from her previously tetchy state, but the waiting had caused her frustration to resurface. 

"They said 1 to 3 hours" Pernille reminded her gently, attempting to mollify Magda's rising temper with a squeeze to her bicep.

Magda huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms and slumping in her seat. Pernille was just glad she was no longer swearing profusely considering there was now a family with two children in the waiting room with them.

"Let's just hope the surgery doesn't mess with any of her tattoos" Ingrid joked weakly, attempting to lighten the mood somewhat. It was one of the few times that the youngest had spoken during this whole ordeal, mostly just sitting quietly and staring off at nothing.

"Really. I think she'd be more pissed if the surgery messed with her ink than anything else in this situation" Pernille agreed, allowing her worried thoughts to mitigate slightly, smiling at the thought of Marie griping about any damage done to her collection.

"We can pay for her to get a million more tattoos as soon as we actually get to see her"

"Just be patient. Any minute now they'll call us in"

"These have just felt like the longest and shittiest hours of my life" Magda sighed and the other two had to nod in agreement.

* * *

_Intility Arena, Innspurten, Oslo, Norway; 18:34_

They were into the second half and hadn't scored yet, still tied 0-0 with Arna-Bjørnar. Everyone on the field was started to get frustrated, every player pushing forward at any given opportunity. Each team wanting to be the first to break the stalemate.

The irritation and desperation to score were combining into a dangerous level of aggression. Players were taking risky opportunities, willing to try uncertain tackles and maneuvers to try and get the edge on the other team.

Right now, Ajara Nchout had the ball at her feet and was sprinting towards Arna-Bjørnar's side. Ajara was a player with great precision, but she knew she wasn't the fastest on the field and could see that defenders were already catching up to her. She had two options, attempt to take a shot from where she was or pass it off to a teammate. As she saw Ngozi Ebere advancing on her, preparing to cut her off, she made her decision.

Marie, who was on the other end of the field, saw what her Cameroonian friend was planning and attempted to put herself in a better position to receive the pass. The ball was up in the air, arcing over, and she could tell that it would still be pretty high up in the air by the time it made it to her. She would probably need to catch it with her chest first before advancing. The ball was coming in closer and was seconds from getting to her, she just needed to-

Sudden pain shot through her body.

Oh God. 

So much pain.

So, so much pain.

Everything was hurting and she couldn't breathe.

In a matter of seconds, she had gone from upright to lying face down on the pitch, which she only knew because of the pressure against her body and the feeling of grass against her face. Otherwise, her head was spinning too quickly, vision too blurry, to fully understand her orientation. 

It hurt **so. fucking. bad.** Any slight movement of her body felt agonizing. Every twitch of her muscles bringing excruciating pain. She extended her right arm and put her hand next to her head, then attempted to push herself up. Instantly, searing pain flashed up her arm, causing her to yelp out in shock. She dropped back down and stabbed her nails into the pitch to try and ground herself, hoping to try and focus on the feeling of her nails digging into the dirt instead of the pain. People around her were talking frantically. Or were they yelling? Everything sounded muted compared to the ringing in her ears.

She could tell people were coming towards her. She couldn't see them, her face still pushed firmly in the grass to try and block out the pain, but could feel the vibrations in the ground as heavy steps got closer to her. Hands were now grabbing at her shoulders and legs, probably trying to move her, and honestly? Could they knock that shit the fuck off? Everything hurt, she was gasping for air, and her brain felt like it was in a blender as is, she really didn't need people jostling her around, thank you.

She tried to lift her head but only made it half a centimeter before pressing her face back into the turf. The slight movement had only amplified her lightheaded dizziness and made her want to vomit.

Someone was grabbing at her wrists, trying to yank her hands from where they were clawing into the dirt. She resisted and tried to hold on, her hand rigid, desperate to not let go of the one thing somewhat distracting her from the pain and nausea. 

"Marie. Marie, we need to move you into an ambulance, okay?" A muffled voice, borderline unintelligible to her in her debilitated state.

 _Not okay._ She wanted to say. _No thank you, I'm fine right here. Absolutely no need to move me. In fact, please for the love of God don't fucking move me._

Instead, all that came out of her mouth was some garbled nonsense before...

She fainted.

* * *

_Intility Arena, Innspurten, Oslo, Norway; 18:36_

Pernille was stuck, standing and staring in horror at the macabre scene before her. She had seen a lot of injuries in her time, every soccer player has, but none this openly gruesome. Seeing someone sprain, fracture, or tear something would cause her to wince in sympathy, maybe be a bit squeamish if a body part was bending in a weird way. A cut to the head or a black eye could sometimes cause her to be a bit grossed out, especially if there was a lot of blood. But this. This was different. A lot different from anything Pernille had ever seen. There was so much blood. So, so much blood. The grass around Marie had already turned a slight crimson color and grew darker as blood continued to gush from the open wound. God, she wanted to throw up.

She turned to Ingrid and Magda to see how they were doing when she noticed the Swede was storming off. Pernille snapped out of her shock-induced haze as she quickly got up and scurried after Magda, gently tugging at Ingrid's arm to draw her out of her stupor and get her to follow.

"Magda! Magda, wait up! Slow down!" Pernille called out to her, but the blonde just kept stalking towards the car, causing Pernille and Ingrid to have to chase after her. The rage burning in Magda's eyes was enough to cause several nearby people, and even some people who were already standing a fair distance away, to nervously step away from her.

Magda yanked the car door open and started it up, barely waiting for the other two passengers to sit down before taking off. 

"Christ, Magda! I know you're worried but getting us into a car accident isn't going to help anything"

Magda didn't respond, just gripped the wheel tight enough to turn her knuckles white and clenched her teeth.

Pernille sighed, realizing she wouldn't be getting much from Magda until she calmed down, and turned back to check on Ingrid. The youngest was sitting in the back seat, face pale as she stared forward at nothing. She was probably in shock. Scratch that. She was 100% in shock. Pernille couldn't blame her. It had felt like an out-of-body experience, like she was watching a horror movie. As if she had paid for tickets to an action movie but had walked into the wrong theater and was watching a slasher flick instead. Forced to stay in her seat and bear witness to the gore in front of her. Unable to do anything but gasp and cry out at the sight of the metal cleats stabbing into the side of Marie's thigh. Stuck watching them drag all the way down her leg, slicing it clean open, and taking out a chunk of skin as the cleats were ripped out by the force of the other player falling backward. Seeing the pool of blood near their girlfriend's lacerated and mangled leg was not something that could be easily shaken.

Pernille reached back and gripped onto Ingrid's thigh for comfort, though she couldn't tell if she was doing it for Ingrid or herself. It didn't matter. Ingrid met her eyes and they both just silently held eye contact, neither quite yet able to speak. She switched from just holding onto Ingrid's thigh to gently caressing it as she broke eye contact to look back at Magda. The Swede somehow looked angrier than she had before, which was saying something considering her initial anger was enough to scare away people in her general vicinity. Pernille hoped for the sake of the player that had tackled Marie that she would never have to go up against Chelsea because Magda looked like she could commit murder without blinking an eye. Pernille wasn't so sure she'd stop her at this point.

She saw the hospital coming into sight and breathed in relief just at the thought of being closer to Marie. She glanced at the clock and realized they had gotten there in around 11 minutes. The GPS had said it would be around 16. Well, at least they hadn't gotten pulled over. 

They walked in and Pernille immediately put herself ahead of Magda, not quite trusting her to be civil at the moment. Pernille talked to the person manning the front desk, showing proof that they all four lived together, and then asked to see Marie.

"The doctors don't like to have people in the room while they're working. It may be a bit before you can see her but we'll let you know"

Pernille covered Magda's mouth preemptively, sensing her displeasure, and thanked the woman. She and Ingrid both worked to drag Magda into the waiting room and shoved her down into a sit. She sprung back up a moment later and began pacing around the room, swearing vehemently under her breath.

Pernille sat next to Ingrid, who still hadn't spoken a word the entire time, and wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulder. 

"She'll be alright" Pernille murmured quietly into Ingrid's hair, though she knew her voice didn't sound as confident as she wanted it to. Watching Marie pass out on the field hadn't put her in a very positive frame of mind.

Pernille tried to steady her breathing, but every now and then images would flash into her mind. Images of the player's cleat stabbing into Marie. Of Marie's mouth open in a silent cry of pain as she was cut. Marie's leg, carved up with a large section of flesh missing, deep enough for bone to be seen poking out. Marie scratching at the dirt hard enough to draw blood underneath her fingernails, writhing in pain. Marie passed out on the field, lying still, surrounded by her own blood. She had to work to stop tears from pricking at the corners of her eyes at the fresh memories

Pernille just wanted to see Marie at this point. Just to see her breathing and in one piece, just to know she was okay! She wanted the most recent images in her mind of the girl to be ones of her looking peaceful and alive, not panicked and suffering.

Pernille was pulled out of her thoughts by the sight of Magda walking back over to them. It appeared she had finally worn herself out, and collapsed into the seat next to Ingrid, leaning heavily onto her and pressing her face into the collar of her shirt.

"I absolutely fucking hate this" Magda whispered dismally.

* * *

_Oslo Helse Legevakt, Oslo, Norway; Back To Present Time_

The surgery to apply the skin graft to her leg was finished and she would finally be able to go home and get some sleep. All she had wanted was to play a game of soccer and then spend some time with her partners, but instead, she had ended up getting cut open and spending almost three hours in the hospital. She had a broken wrist, close to 50 stitches in her thigh, and a skin graft to cover the portion of her skin that had been actually, honest to God, ripped out. Plus, in order to get the skin graft, the doctor needed to remove skin from her arm to apply to her leg, so that fucking hurt too. She was frustrated, tired, hungry, not to mention that the anesthetic had started to wear off and she was able to feel the pain and itching all over. All she wanted was to curl up in her bed and cry.

She was glad that Pernille, Magda, and Ingrid were here for this. One, for comfort and cuddles. And two, because the doctor had been explaining some, probably very important, self-care and cleaning information and she had not been even close to listening.

"Make sure to keep the area as still as possible and make sure not to get the bandages wet. We'll see you back here in about 4 to 7 days to replace the bandages and check on how both the graft and donor site are healing. Both the areas will most likely be very itchy, but it's important to not scratch or pick at them what-so-ever, alright?"

"Mhm"

"Okay, we've given a typed up list of instructions in case you forget anything. Any questions?"

Nobody said anything so the doctor wished Marie good healing, waved them goodbye, and left the room, leaving the four of them alone for the first time in hours. 

"Guess it's finally time to go home," Pernille said as she and Magda moved to each of Marie's sides to help her stand up, each hooking an arm under her shoulder. Once they had her fully standing, Magda crouched down and picked her up, careful not to grab at her wound and making sure that her injured thigh was facing outward.

"Huh? Uh... you... what? I can walk!"

"The doctor said to move the area as little as possible."

"Magda, come on! Put me down!"

"No."

"I... ugh! Seriously! Magda, this is embarrassing!"

"Deal with it."

Marie crossed her arms grumpily but gave in, shrinking into Magda's arms. It was all for show, though. She would never admit it out loud, but it felt good to be cradled in someone's arms right now, she was really craving comfort in any form. 

Unbeknownst to Marie, Magda was also doing this for her own sake as well. Carrying Marie was to help keep the area still and not put any strain on her injury, but Magda also kinda needed to hold Marie close to her. She had been scared absolutely fucking shitless seeing the normally happy and goofy Norwegian so clearly terrified and in pain on the field. And then seeing Marie's limp body being taken off into an ambulance had damn near sent her into cardiac arrest. It was taking every ounce of her will power to not just squeeze the younger blonde as tight to her body as possible, desperate to reassure herself that Marie was okay and alive and safe with them.

"Marie?"

"Yeah, Ingrid?"

"I know you don't really have much of a say in the matter, but can you never do anything like this ever a-fucking-gain for as long as you live, please?"

"I'll do my best"

"Thanks"

With three people helping her out, getting into the car, out of the car, and into the house was a manageable process. Not fun or painless, but manageable.

Ingrid helped Marie to lay down comfortably on their bed while Magda and Pernille made dinner for all of them. She got changed into her pajamas and then helped the older girl get into hers as well. Taking off Marie's shirt and bra and throwing a t-shirt over her head was easy enough as long as they avoided her broken wrist. Replacing her shorts and underwear for a loose-fitting pair of boxers with minimal pain, however, was a bit of a struggle. By the time they had finished, Pernille and Magda had cooked dinner and brought it up for the four of them. They ate their food in bed, not wanting to bother Marie to go back downstairs and not wanting her to be eating alone either, and then cleaned up to get ready to sleep.

The next morning, the other three got up to start the day and let Marie sleep in.

Pernille, who had just gotten back from a run and saw that the inked Norwegian was awake, walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed next to Marie.

"How are you feeling, elskede?"

"Shitty" Marie groaned, moving her broken wrist to lay comfortably on her stomach, her other hand going behind her head.

"Yeah, I figured. Anything we can do?" Pernille looked at Marie softly, empathy shining in her eyes. No athlete liked being injured. Hell, no person liked being injured.

"No, at this point I just need to suck it up and deal. Thank you for all you guys have done"

"Not even a problem" Pernille leaned over and kissed Marie's cheek as she said this.

"I just feel so useless. I can't do anything right now and it sucks"

"You're not useless," Ingrid, who had just come out of the shower with Magda, reassured her gently. "You're going to need some help right now, but that doesn't take away anything from you. Being temporarily out of commission doesn't negate how unbelievably talented and wonderful you are"

Marie hummed noncommittally.

Magda and Ingrid forwent getting changed into outfits for the day and instead went over to sit with Marie and Pernille on the bed, sensing Marie could use some uplifting pretty urgently. Magda nudged Marie to sit up so that she could lay behind her, allowing the tatted blonde to settle back against her before wrapping her arms around the Norwegian's waist, Magda's legs bracketing Marie's. Ingrid laid down next to the two once they had settled.

"Even if you can't really do things physically at the moment, which, once again, is only temporary, you're still sweet, funny, and adorable. Making people smile and laugh doesn't seem so useless to me" 

"Ingrid's right. I need your snarky commentary in order to watch those awful reality shows she and Pernille put us through"

"I know you secretly get invested in them too, Magda," Pernille side-eyed her while saying this "And, Marie, people don't need to be useful or doing things all the time. It's okay for you to just exist as a person without constantly serving some sort of function 24/7. You'll take this time to heal up, lay low for a while, and we'll be here to take care of you and help you through it. And once you get back on your feet, it will feel as if this didn't even happen"

"I guess"

"You can guess, but I know. Injuries feel like forever in the moment, but the reality is that you're going to spend more time not-injured than injured. This is a momentary blip and you'll come out of it stronger for having gone through it"

"Sure, sure, I just don't like feeling weak"

"You know, personal strength isn't some meter that points get added and subtracted from like a report card based on every single individual thing you do. There's nobody standing here removing points from some 'Overall Strength' bar just because you need a bit of help right now," Magda replied. "It's a summation. And you're at an A+" Magda kissed the top of Marie's head, then leaned down to playfully nip at Marie's ear, causing the younger to scrunch her face up and stick her tongue out at her. Magda grinned cheekily back at her.

"Relying on people for what seems like every little thing sucks, but just know that you're not inconveniencing us and we are more than happy to help you" Ingrid added as she ran her fingers through Marie's hair, only stopping to scratch gently behind Marie's ear. "Besides, I know it's cliche, but asking for help and occasionally depending on others shows strength not weakness"

Marie leaned into the touch, a soft sigh escaping her.

"Thanks, kitten. I'll try to be a better sport about this, I probably just need to rest"

"You're not obligated to be happy about this, what happened sucks and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would be in a good mood during this. You can take the time to be upset about this as long as you don't let it keep you down for too long," Pernille reached over and gently lifted Marie's chin so they were making direct eye-contact with each other. "We just want you to know that we're here for you and we love you, okay?"

Marie nodded, a small smile on her face. Pernille gently patted her cheek and then let her go, Marie nuzzling back down into Magda's chest.

"We're around if you need anything, yeah? Anything at all"

"I can even kill the player that did this to you if you'd like" Magda offered casually and sweetly.

"I'd prefer you continue to stay here and hold me. I'll consider it though" 

Magda nodded down at Marie thoughtfully while Ingrid and Pernille share a worried glance.

"I'm going to chose to focus on the sentiment of that statement and ignore how utterly concerning that was" Ingrid said slowly.

"It's for the best" Pernille agreed.

Marie and Magda smiled innocently at the other two, only to break into laughter seconds later at the looks they were getting.

Marie's entire body still hurt like hell and she still hated being injured and unable to play, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be spoiled by the other three, just for a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the initial draft, she just had a sprain, then I changed it to an ACL tear, then a broken bone, before finally deciding to model her injury after one of the most gruesome moments in soccer history.


	12. Don't Worry, It's Nothing Personal, Sometimes I'm A Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pernille becomes upset when Marie continues to come up with excuses to not meet her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request from jokez4:  
> "if it’s ok to make requests, and dare i ask for an angst chapter, what would happen if there was an argument between 2 of them? what would the other 2 do?"
> 
> Title from I'm A Wreck by AWOLNATION.  
> 

There were several ways this situation could go; Pernille could drop the conversation and go along with Marie's excuses, Marie could give in and just agree to meet Pernille's parents, or they could both remain extremely stubborn and refuse to budge on their side of the argument.

Unfortunately, having known the two of them long enough, there was really only one way this situation would go.

Ingrid had seen this coming as soon as Pernille brought up that her parents would be coming into town to visit. She had mentioned it casually at training that her mom, dad, sister, and nephew were going to be coming in to visit for a couple of days. Ingrid had smiled and told Pernille it would be good to see them again, but internally she cringed as she foresaw the oncoming storm. It was a predictable cycle. Pernille would bring up her parents visiting, Marie would suddenly have some reason to be out of town or busy on the day(s) they were here, and then Pernille would get upset with Marie for not being able to meet them. With each visit that Marie managed to worm her way out of, Pernille's reactions were getting more and more intense. And as Pernille's reactions to Marie's reasons for not meeting her parents got stronger, Marie got more stubborn and defensive. She hated seeing any of her partners fight, and considering this was about Marie's 6th or 7th time dodging the Dane's family, she already knew this was going to be a bad one.

And, to her dismay, she was right.

She and Magda had gone out grocery shopping and had walked into a screaming match between the two blondes. 

"How come I haven't heard about you needing to leave town for a team meeting up until right now, huh?!?"

"It slipped my mind! Am I not allowed to forget things?"

"Right, of course, just like the last time you 'suddenly remembered' you had to be back in Norway when I mentioned my parents visited. Or when you 'completely forgot' that you promised to visit your brother _seconds_ after I told you my parents were coming"

"Here we go again"

"Every. Single. Time. Marie. Every single fucking time! Every single time they come to visit you run for the fucking hills. You haven't stuck around long enough to meet them once!"

"For fucks sake, Pernille. You're reading too much into this!"

"Don't you even **dare**! You know I'm right! You're avoiding meeting them for some reason, so just tell me what it is!"

"Coincidences are a thing, you know. Having overlapping events at the same time your parents are in town is possible"

"Don't get smart with me"

"All I'm saying is that it's a thing that happens!"

"It's a thing that happens every time my parents come to visit, maybe"

"It's a thing that happens when you're an adult with a career"

"Would you stop being such a condescending dick! God, I can't even fucking believe you"

"I can't believe you're making such a big fucking deal out of a business matter! All four of us are constantly getting pulled away at odd times because of our jobs. You of anyone should understand this"

"It has nothing to do with work! It's you leaving and the timing of it!"

"Because I'm in charge of setting up the date and times of our conferences"

"Stop it with this fucking crap already! Do you even know how obvious it is that you're lying to get out of meeting my mom and dad?"

"You're making everything about you! I haven't met Magda's parents yet either and you don't see her having a fucking fit over it"

"You're right"

"Thank you"

"You haven't met Magda's parents yet because you're avoiding that too"

"Christ"

"Don't roll your eyes at me! It's true and you fucking know it!"

"Then how come Magda isn't freaking out at me?"

"Because she doesn't like direct confrontation! Believe me, she's noticed you dodging this just as much as I have, and even if she won't say it to your face, she's just as displeased as I am"

"So I've been too busy to meet your and Magda's family, okay. Well, I've met Ingrid's family, haven't I? If this were some avoidance bullshit or whatever you think it is, why would I have met HER mom and dad?"

"Why don't you tell me? Why are you so fine with meeting Ingrid's parents but not mine or Magda's?!?"

"Because it has nothing to do with your parents! Or Magda's parents! Or Ingrid's parents!"

"Clearly it does!"

"You're searching for shit that isn't there Pernille"

"No, I'm not. It's a pretty obvious pattern. I bring up my family and you book it like a damn fugitive! Seriously, what the fuck is your issue?"

"Nothing! I don't have an issue! You're the one with the damn issue!"

"My issue is that all I want is for you to meet my damn parents and you're acting like they have the fucking plague!"

"I'm not! For fucks sake, I'm telling you, **I'm not avoiding them!** Believe it or not, I do occasionally need to do things other than follow you around like a lap-dog! My life isn't just dedicated to following around Pernille fucking Harder all the time"

"Now look who's reading too much into things! I'm not trying to say you can't have a life, I just think it's pretty fucking odd how it mainly pops up whenever 'meeting the parents' is involved!"

"Maybe the problem here is that you only pay attention to my life when it interferes with what you want!"

"What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"That the world doesn't revolve around you!"

"I never said it did!"

"Well, you sure as hell like to act like it! Getting on my fucking case because I dared to have plans without consulting her majesty"

"I can't believe you're trying to turn this around on me! This isn't a problem of me being selfish or narcissistic, this is a problem of you failing to do something as simple as meet my parents and sister! What the fuck is your damage? Why is this so difficult for you?"

"This is insane. You're freaking out on me just because I have a fucking job!"

"I'm calling you out on your bullshit for weaseling your way out of meeting our families"

"You're losing your shit because I need to go to a work meeting!"

"Fucking hell, would you just admit there's no meeting! It's a bullshit fucking excuse you're making up! You clearly don't want to meet my family and you're coming up with bullshit fucking reasons to get out of it"

"You think I'm leaving the fucking country just to avoid your mom and dad?"

"You know what? Yes! Yes, I do! I think that you're finding a way out of something that you don't want to deal with because you're a fucking coward. You're an impulsive coward who will do anything to not have to face shit you don't want to deal with. I mean, you spend hundreds of dollars on a whim, getting permanent ink stabbed into your skin, whenever the fuck you feel any kind of emotion. So yeah, I wouldn't put it past you to make the rash decision to leave the fucking country cause you're too much of a fucking wuss to be in a situation that makes you uncomfortable"

"Watch it..."

"What? Am I wrong? Do you not try and run from your problems at the first fucking chance? That you don't have the fucking balls to get out of your own damn comfort zone?"

" **Pernille** "

"Whenever something happens you run the hell away. Either that or you just fuck right off to the nearest tattoo parlor and spend money modifying your body so you don't have to think about how to be a human being with working emotions"

"This is so fucking stupid. **I'm done here** "

" _YOU'RE_ done? Really? YOU'RE done? I'm fucking done!"

"Good. So we're done here?"

"Why are you being such a fucking prick about this?! Do you have some bizarre fear of Danish people? Are you suddenly xenophobic? Do you hate my family despite having not met them? Or is this a commitment issue? Some sort of weird fucking commitment issue that only applies to Magda and me and not Ingrid? Is that what this is?"

"Of course not!"

"Is your relationship with Magda and I just not as real as the one between you and Ingrid? Or maybe you didn't even plan to meet Ingrid's parents either. Maybe the only reason you met them is that you got cornered and couldn't escape. Is this relationship even serious to you? Do you even have any plans for a future with us?"

"Pernille. Stop it. You know that's not it"

"You're fine with having permanent shit drawn on you but freak out at having a permanent relationship?"

"You're not even listening to me!"

" _YOU'RE_ NOT LISTENING TO _ME_! ALL I WANT IS TO INTRODUCE MY PARENTS TO THE PEOPLE I LOVE AND YET YOU WON'T LET ME! I WANT MY FAMILY TO START TO SEE YOU AS PART OF THE FAMILY BUT CLEARLY YOU DON'T FUCKING WANT THAT! Why don't you want to take this step? Do you actually want to be with us?"

"Pernille, come on"

"Leave me alone" Pernille's voice was barely above a whisper at this point, and with that, she stormed off to her room, tears streaming down her face.

"Fuck" Marie kicked the kitchen table as hard as she could before turning and trudging downstairs into the basement.

Magda and Ingrid looked at each other in concern, still standing in the doorway where they had gone unnoticed during Pernille and Marie's fight.

"Shit. That... wasn't great" Magda sighed and rubbed her temple.

"I saw this coming but had hoped it wouldn't be this bad," Ingrid looked sadly at where the two girls had previously been standing. She really hated it when they got like this. Seeing Pernille crying was bad, hearing her doubt Marie's feeling towards her was worse. She felt like crying herself at the clear look of pain on Pernille's face. And although Marie had remained cold and impassive during the encounter, Ingrid could see that some of Pernille's comments had clearly devastated Marie as well. She hadn't been crying like Pernille had, but Marie hadn't walked away from the encounter unscathed either if the wounded look in her eyes was anything to go by. 

"Do you know why it is that Marie's dodging this? I mean, she clearly is dodging it"

"I have a pretty good guess," She did have an idea on why her fellow Norwegian was so desperate to not face Pernille's family. If her reason was right, she couldn't help but feel bad for Marie. She just wished Marie would be honest about it instead of getting angry and defensive. "but I'm not gonna speak on her behalf"

"Well than Marie had better start speaking some sense on her own behalf. I'm gonna go check on Pernille. You wanna go after Marie?"

"Yeah"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have planned a resolution for this and if it seems like enough people are interested I'll write it.


	13. Baby When I'm Yelling At You It's Not Your Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The resolution of Pernille and Marie's fight a.k.a the one where Magda is done with this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, it was a bit mean to leave the last chapter on such a negative note, but I wasn't sure how interested people would be in it. That being said, thank you all so much for the support and encouragement!
> 
> Title from 'Not Your Fault' by AWOLNATION  
> I think I've forced my music taste down the throats of everyone reading this every single chapter

It had been almost two days since Pernille and Marie had gone off on each other. Two days and they hadn’t even spoken to each other. They had walked away from each other that Monday afternoon and had yet to even broach the subject of making amends. Ingrid and Magda had tried to play mediators but there was only so much they could do. Each was convinced that they were in the right and got pissed when Magda or Ingrid tried to tell them to apologize, trying to explain to the two how it was the other that needed to do the apologizing. Marie and Pernille wouldn't ask them to, or accuse them of, picking sides (this was a rule that was established very on in the relationship. If any of them were fighting, attempting to pit other members of the house against each other was a huge 'No') but it was still annoying for them to hear Ingrid or Magda try and convince them to forgive the other. Nothing was going to get worked out unless the two actually talked to each other, but both were too stubborn, feelings too hurt, to be the first to give in and confront the other.

Magda and Ingrid had both taken turns trying to warm the other up to the thought of apologizing but got nothing from either side.

Marie was still adamant that her reasons for ditching town were real. Ingrid had followed after her into the basement to talk immediately after the fight, but it had almost been an exact replay of everything Marie had said to Pernille. She just kept insisting that she wasn’t purposefully getting out of meeting Pernille or Magda’s family and that Pernille was blowing it out of proportion. Ingrid had eventually gotten so frustrated at trying to get the inked blonde to budge on her position that she left Marie alone. 

She had a feeling that she knew why Marie was being avoidant but didn’t want to confront her on it, afraid Marie would shut down and wall herself in further. Unfortunately, Pernille’s comment that Marie ignored emotions and refused to deal with them, while harsh, was accurate. If there was one thing she had learned about Valerenga’s striker, it was that she refused to acknowledge when anything was wrong with her. Marie was unnervingly good at lying to herself. At ignoring anything that had to deal with her own issues and instead pretending there was some outside factor playing in that did not involve her what-so-ever. If Marie wanted to believe nothing was bothering her and that her excuses for getting out were valid, she could lie to herself well enough to buy it, even if it was clear to everyone around her that something was up. She would keep up a front of being perfectly fine and find reasons to excuse or explain off behavior until things became too much. She felt she had to wait for Marie to reach her breaking point and bring up any personal problems on her terms, at risk of being blocked out by the older Norwegian if anyone tried to breach the subject themselves.

And then there was Pernille, who was too hurt by what had happened to even be in the same room as Marie for too long. She knew she had said some shitty things to the younger girl, calling her an avoidant coward was probably not the nicest thing she'd ever said in her life, but Marie had dealt back some equally low blows. Being accused of being arrogant and selfish had hurt. She had seen tweets before, read comments on Instagram, from people who said she was too egotistic. People who frowned down upon her for confidence, called it cockiness instead. Those were painful but she could brush them off. Especially since she knew a lot of the comments were coming from men who wanted women to always be well-behaved. People who didn't like the sight of women who celebrated their victories unapologetically instead of keeping their heads down and being demure. Hearing it come from her own girlfriend, however? That hurt.

More importantly, she was distraught over Marie's flighty behaviors. To Pernille, the idea of meeting a partner's family was the easiest thing in the world. She couldn't think of any reason Marie would avoid it other than if she didn't want to form any commitment. It was true that Marie was younger than her by around five years, but she still figured Marie was at a place in her life where she was looking for something real. As soon as she had first met the girl back in 2015, she had known she was someone she wanted to keep in her life, whether it be platonic or romantic. They had bonded quickly and she could have sworn the Norwegian felt the same connection. She thought they were all on the same page and hated the idea that Marie didn't share the same plans for the future that she did. Just the thought that Marie could possibly be planning on walking away from this was enough to bring her to tears. The Dane hadn't been able to keep her eyes dry for more than a couple hours at a time since the fight.

It was at the point where both wouldn’t even sleep in the same room as the other for the past two nights.

When they were searching for houses, they made sure to pick a house that had four bedrooms. They all slept together in one bed but they wanted it so each person still had a personal space in the house in case they needed alone time. It also made it easier to organize things instead of having everything cluttered in one bedroom. The decision for each person to have their own bedroom was a good decision and a healthy one, having a space to call your own when you lived with four people truly was necessary, but it made fights even more painful. A physical reminder of the space between the two at the moment, each choosing to be locked off in their personal rooms because they couldn’t even sleep in the same bed as the other. It was legitimately one of the worst feelings Magda or Ingrid had experienced, to be in such a large bed meant for four people, yet for there to only be two. And though they were acting like it didn't bother them, sleeping alone was miserable for the other two as well. 

Their house had never been in such a bitter and depressing state.

It was on day three, Wednesday night – technically Thursday morning considering it was around 3:30 – that Magda decided she had enough. She had heard noises coming from the hall, had gotten up to see Marie getting ready to leave, and knew she had to put her foot down.

“Drop your bag and come with me”

“What?”

“Come on, follow me”

“Magda, I have to –“

“Don’t care. Come on”

"No offense, I'm not exactly in the mood for a dose of Magdalena Eriksson's 'patent-pending' tough love"

"Rule number one of Magdalena Eriksson's tough love is you don't get to decide when it's time for Magdalena Eriksson's tough love. Follow."

Marie rolled her eyes but dropped her luggage and followed her silently. Magda was grateful that Marie had chosen this as one of the few times to not to be completely argumentative.

Magda grabbed the keys to her car and led Marie to the garage. While Marie got into the passenger seat, Magda tossed a couple things in the trunk before coming back around to get in the car.

"You gonna tell me where we're going?" Marie asked as Magda started driving.

"Nope."

“You're not planning on dumping me in a lake for making Pernille cry, are you?”

“Funny. And no, I’m not. This isn't about Pernille, this is about you"

"About me" Marie repeated dryly.

"Yes, smart-ass, you"

"There's nothing 'me-related' to talk about"

"Oh, I'm sure we can find something," Magda deadpanned. She paused for a minute, tapping her fingers on the wheel as if debating what to say, then exhaled and continued. "Marie. I want you to know that I care about you just as much as I care about Pernille. I'm not just dragging you out to berate you or to make you feel worse about what happened, though I hope you know I expect you to apologize for the things you said. I want to be here for you, help you with whatever's troubling you.” 

“Thanks. And Yeah. I will. Apologize, that is. I really didn't mean to make her feel like that. I feel like fucking shit that she thinks I'm not invested in this, in us.” Marie sighed as she slouched back in her seat.

The rest of the ride was quiet, Magda occasionally turning to check on the younger blonde while Marie just stared out the window, her expression a mixture of guilt and uncertainty.

Finally, Magda pulled into a small vacant parking lot and stopped the car. Marie looked out the window to get a better look at her surroundings. Her eyes needing to adjust to the dark, but she quickly recognized the location as a large field that was a short drive away from their house. 

"An empty field in the middle of the night? I thought you said you weren't gonna kill me and hide my body"

"Actually, I said I wasn't going to dump you into a lake" Magda replied casually as she opened the car door. She got out and walked around to the trunk to get out what she had tossed in before they left. Marie hadn't seen what it was Magda brought when she had been putting them in the car, but as Magda was taking the stuff out she could now see it was a soccer ball and two water bottles. Magda closed the trunk and walked off onto the field.

"You coming or what?" Magda asked, noticing Marie wasn't following her.

"Soccer. Really? You dragged me out here to play soccer"

"Yup. Get your ass out of the car and come on"

"I'm wearing jeans!"

"Take 'em off then!" Magda called over her shoulder, already far out in the field.

Marie grumbled under her breath but shucked off her shirt and jeans, leaving her in a sports bra and boxers. Taking her shirt off wasn't really necessary since she was wearing a t-shirt, she just liked taking her shirt off.

"Taking me out to play soccer and talk about feelings. Where did you learn this, a Disney channel coming of age movie?" Marie asked as she jogged over to where Magda was waiting.

"If I need to use a tactic from a kid's movie, that says more about you than it does me"

"Fucker"

Then they both stopped talking and started playing. It was a simple drill where each tried to keep possession for as long as possible. Magda allowed Marie to get slightly more aggressive than usual and dished it right back. Sometimes there was catharsis in simply shoving shit and getting shoved. They ran around the field, pushing and pulling at each other, almost more focused on knocking each other around than anything else. At some point the ball was completely removed from the equation as they took to wrestling with each other on the ground, the result of a rough tackle by Magda that had brought them both crashing down. It was a good thing it was pitch black outside because anyone who walked by and saw them would probably think they were crazy, rolling around on the ground and trying to pin the other.

Their grappling went on for a while but was finally concluded by Marie being pinned down by the older girl, who was straddling her waist and gripping her wrists to keep her down. After a couple unsuccessful attempts to buck the Swede off her lap, she gave in and just relaxed back into the grass.

Looking down at the girl under her, she saw the Marie that she had been looking for all week. It was fascinating to Magda how the Norwegian could look either far younger or older than her years depending on her mood. In the moments when Marie was concentrated or serious about something, she always seemed older. Her eyes would become sharp and intense, her lips closed tightly with a slight downturn at the corners, and the tension in her body would cause the angles of her jawline to stick out more. Yet, in moments like these, moments were the girl was happy and care-free, she looked unbelievably young, almost as if she were still a teenager. With wide-eyes sparkling and her single dimpled smile taking on a slightly goofy appearance, causing her cheeks to look more rounded, it was difficult to imagine her as being older than 20. 

She desperately hoped that whatever was plaguing her would get at least brought up, if not somewhat solved, tonight.

Magda rolled over, off the other blonde and onto the grass, laying on her back and staring up at the night sky. Marie put her, now freed, hands behind her head. It was a nice reprieve from the turmoil of this week, to just lay in the grass under the stars, taking in the beauty of the night-time atmosphere. Silent and peaceful.

"Have you ever..." Marie started up but then trailed off.

"Have I ever...?" Magda urged her on. _Come on! This is it!_ She thought. _Let the heart to heart commence!_

"Had an emotional reaction to something that you didn't like. Not that you didn't like what happened, but you didn't like your own reaction? Like, you feel bad for feeling that way but the feelings pop up anyway?"

"I can think of a few times" _Operation 'Get Marie to talk' completed. Point Magda!_

"Yeah?"

"Yeah"

When Marie stopped and didn't continue, Magda decided to give an example of her own to hopefully make the other girl feel comfortable enough to continue.

"I used to feel nervous that Pernille would leave me. Even had nightmares about it for maybe a month straight"

That shocked Marie enough for her to turn over onto her side and look at Magda in disbelief.

"Seriously?"

"Yup. It was when we first started doing long-distance. I had only ever heard people talk about how long-distance tears relationships apart. I was scared she would find someone better while I was away. That not having me there would cause her to fall out of love with me," Magda admitted. "I felt horrible about feeling that way. I trusted her, I knew when she told me she loved me that she meant it. I didn't want to feel nervous about her leaving me, I felt like I was betraying her by having those thoughts. And yet for some reason, the thoughts kept popping up. I tried so hard to ignore them and stomp them down, but they kept coming whether I was awake or asleep"

"What finally stopped it?"

"You're going to hate this answer"

"Try me"

"I talked to her about it"

"Yup. I do hate that answer"

"It worked, though. Talking it out with her, even just putting my thoughts out into the world helped. We talked to each other and I told her everything that I was feeling. I felt guilty as hell because I didn't want her to think I didn't trust her and it took me a while to tell her everything, but when I did she was extremely supportive and understanding"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. She didn't think any less of me for having that kind of emotional reaction because the important things was that I wasn't acting on it. I wasn't going off the walls or getting crazy jealous, so it was easy for her to just offer comfort," Magda turned on her side so that she and Marie were facing each other. "Because here's the thing about being a human being, we have varying levels of control over different aspects of ourselves. We can control our actions 100%, the decisions we make are our decisions. We can control our thoughts some of the time, but intrusive thoughts are a thing and there are plenty of times when things pop into our heads without our control. But feelings? You've got no control over that. The way your body responds emotionally is out of your hands. It doesn't say anything about you as a person because you can't control it. Instead of spending time feeling guilty about feeling things you literally can not control, let yourself feel that way and then go from there. Acknowledge your emotions instead of ignoring them, and then you can choose how you want to act"

"That sucks"

"I know, I know. Having personal thoughts and feelings? What a fucking waste of time. But the reality is that you waste more time when you try not to have thoughts and feelings. By not addressing my body's reactions to the long-distance, my brain was pushing me to think about it even in my sleep. It was my mind's way of telling me, 'hey! this is something important!', and that if I don't confront it in the daytime, I'd be forced to deal with it in the night as well," She paused and took a deep breath. "So, yeah, Pernille understood that I couldn't help the way I was feeling or the dreams I was having but appreciated the way I was acting about it and gave me support and reassurance"

"Fuck. I... guess I never really thought about that. I just hated some of the thoughts and shit that I was having and figured if I resisted enough I could change it"

"I understand. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. But you did catch the part about Pernille being understanding and nice, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. I get it"

"You don't need to spill everything. I know you've got a lot of shit from your past that you haven't opened up about yet and I don't expect you to tell us everything if you're not ready. The important part is just to tell us what you're currently feeling so we can help and support you"

"How do you know I'm not telling you stuff from my past?"

"Well, for starters, I know there was a chunk of time you were injured and you really haven't talked about that. Also, you never talk about your dad. You have pictures of your mom and brother but none of him, don't have any traces of his last name on your social media, removed his last name from your jersey and name on the roster, and only credit your mom as raising you to the point of having an entire article about it and a tattoo that literally says 'Eva raised me' on your leg"

"Easy there, Monsieur Hercule Poirot"

"Shit, sorry. Didn't mean to put you under a microscope and just blurt all that stuff out. It probably didn't seem like it since I was calling a bunch of shit out, but I was actually trying to say that I'm **not** gonna push you to talk about any of that. You're not obligated to tell us every little thing that's happened to you as long as you can give us some insight into how you're doing emotionally"

"Alright. I don't like talking about myself that much, well, at all really, but I'll make an effort to be more open with you guys"

"All I need is for you to at least let us know when something is really bothering you"

"I can do that. Hopefully..."

"It probably won't come naturally at first since you're not used to opening up, but if you can at least make the effort to let us in then that would mean the world"

"Okay. I promise I'll try. Thanks for this, listening and shit. And sorry it had to get to this point"

"I can always find time to listen to you, or Pernille and Ingrid. And know that I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't want to. It is a shame that things needed to fall apart for us to have this conversation, but the important part is that we have a plan to prevent this in the future. Why don't we go home, wait for Pernille and Ingrid to wake up, and then talk this out with the four of us?"

"Sounds like a plan"

Marie and Magda stopped looking at each other in order to sit up, but then both stopped to look at the sky in disbelief.

"Damn, would you look at that? The sun is coming up" 

They had been so engrossed in playing soccer, wrestling each other, and then finally in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed the sky brightening up.

"Have we really been out here all night?"

"Guess so"

"We should get probably get back then" Marie stood up and offered her hand out to Magda. They retrieved the soccer ball that had been lying abandoned out in the field and started their trek back to the car.

"Looks like your kids' movie strategy worked"

"I didn't take it from some teen flick. I found that it's scientifically proven that people are more likely to open up and be honest when they're physically tired and in a familiar environment"

"I- Did... Mags did you... did you try to scientifically calculate the best way to get me to have an emotional conversation?"

"Possibly... But you can't make fun of me because it worked!"

"Oh, no. I can absolutely make fun of you. That's somehow more lame than if you had just stolen a trope from a Disney channel movie"

Magda stuck her tongue out at her and shoved her.

The ride back home was a lot less tense and uncomfortable then the ride to get there, both feeling glad they could finally resolve this and go back to the way things were before. The two blondes went into the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast when they both spotted Marie's bag that was still on the kitchen table.

"In my defense, there actually was a team meeting!" Marie defended herself weakly, noticing Magda looking between her and the bag. When Magda just continued to stare at her she continued, "It was just one of those leadership and cooperation seminars that no-one really shows up to"

"There it is"

"You all knew it was bullshit anyway so don't give me that look"

Magda just shook her head and continued to make breakfast while Marie went to toss the bag into her room, intent on never letting Pernille see that she had packed and planned to actually leave.

It was a while before Pernille and Ingrid both woke up. Marie decided to wait until they both had breakfast and were fully awake before beginning this conversation.

"Uh, hey. Can we talk for a second? The four us"

"Sure" Ingrid said, Pernille just nodding slowly, looking slightly apprehensive. 

They finished clearing up what was left of their breakfast and then sat down together on the stools at the kitchen counter.

"I- Actually, before I start I should apologize to you Pernille. I'm sorry for saying you're self-centered or narcissistic. I've never once in my life actually thought that about you, I was just lashing out in self-defense. You're one of the most humble people I've ever met in my life and I feel terrible for telling you otherwise"

"Thanks. I... I said some pretty awful stuff to you too. I shouldn't have called you weak or a coward. I was angry at the situation but that's no excuse for taking such cheap shots at you" Pernille opened her mouth to continue, but then closed it, a look of trepidation on her face. She wanted to bring back up the conversation of her parents visiting, especially since they would be here tomorrow, but didn't want to rehash the same fight.

Reading the expression on Pernille's face, Marie continued for her, "I also want to apologize for making you think I'm not invested in this as much as you guys are. The truth is that I do want to get to know your families better, I just keep putting it off because I feel like I need to be more... I don't know... prepared?"

"More prepared? What do you mean?" Ingrid asked

"Like, I keep waiting for a time when I can seem more impressive or something. Each time you guys schedule for a family visit, I tell myself that I'll only put it off one more time and that the next time I'll have built up enough confidence to talk with them, but than I back out the next time too"

"I still don't fully understand. What do you mean by 'a time when you can seem more impressive'?"

"It's like, the three of you have won all kinds of things. World Cup trophies, Olympic medals, Club championships. I... haven't. I'm obviously super proud of you guys, I'm not upset that you've won all those things, I just always feel plain in comparison" Marie awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck while talking.

"You've been called the best youth player in Tromsø. You were a child prodigy! You may not have the same awards as we do, but who cares? Awards aren't the only display of talent" Ingrid spoke confidently, shocked to hear that Marie would ever consider herself plain.

"Besides, my parents aren't going to care about any of that. As long as you're nice and we're happy together, they'll love you" Pernille reassured her.

"Thanks, I've just always felt like the odd one out. I want your family to see me as someone worthy of being with you, but every time I think of how the introduction will go I feel lousy. It's like, here's Pernille, who has eleven club trophies and more than ten personal awards. Here's Magda, an Olympic and World Cup medalist with six club trophies. Here's Ingrid, an Algarve Cup winner with four club trophies who scored in the World Cup. And that's Marie, who was pretty good at soccer at some point in her life"

"You're still good. You're just working back up from an injury. And you know you made the right choice by going to be with your family instead of pushing yourself" Ingrid softly rubbed her back while saying this.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed. I don't regret my choice, not really, but I just can't help but wonder sometimes," Marie paused for a moment, but then kept going. "And then there's the fact that you three look like perfect daughter-in-law material while I look like the poster child for the person every parent wants their kid to stay away from. It's like no matter how much I convince myself that your parents will be accepting, I still have that fear in the back of my mind that they won't like me"

"I get it, sometimes it can be hard to shake a feeling or thought, no matter how irrational or baseless it is. Again though, my parents will consider you 'worthy' of dating me as long as we're happy, tattoos and trophies be damned."

Marie nodded but still looked kind of despondent.

"I also have had something else that's been bothering me a bit" Marie spoke slowly, looking hesitant to continue, unsure of if she actually wanted to tell them this.

"What is it?" Magda urged her to continue.

"Before I say this, I want you to know that this doesn't say anything about how I feel about you. These are my own anxious thoughts that have nothing to do with how you guys are, cause you all are great and I love you and-"

"Marie, it's alright. Just say what it is you've been worried about"

"The feeling of not being enough compared to you guys? It hasn't just been in relation to meeting your families. I've also been kind of worried about getting left behind"

"You're worried about us breaking up with you?"

"It's hard to explain. It's not like I think you'll all just up and leave me, but sometimes when I'm feeling self-conscious I worry that other people might see it too. Like one day, you'll see me in the way that I see myself in those moments. As if other people will pick up on my thinking negatively about myself and agree with it. Sorry, I feel bad for just dumping all that on you guys"

"Don't you dare apologize. I'm sorry you've been quietly feeling this way, but I'm glad you're talking to us about this" Ingrid got up and stood behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind.

"Seriously, I'm happy you're talking to us about this. I'm relieved that this isn't a case of you not wanting to be with us and even more relieved that you don't have to suffer silently without us knowing what's going on" Pernille, who was sitting across from her, reached across the counter to gently squeeze her forearm.

"I just feel bad because I know that it's a lot of my own insecurities and I don't want to project that on to you guys. Every time I start to doubt myself and my abilities, I think about how much more talented, attractive, intelligent, and put together you guys are and worry that you might leave me. Then I feel bad for doubting your feelings for me. I don't think you guys are shallow or anything! I just can't help myself from spiraling down that path"

"We know," Ingrid says soothingly. She unwrapped her arms from Marie's waist so she could gently play with her hair. "Your confidence seems like it's in a low place right now, and probably has been for a while. We can help you find ways to build yourself back up"

"Step number one, stop comparing yourself to other people. You're holding yourself to a higher standard than you hold everyone else, and in theory, it's good that you strive for greatness, but in reality, it's only hurting you. I know how accepting you are and I know full well you would never judge somebody else that way, so go easy on yourself" Pernille added

"Let me ask you this, if you saw somebody else recovering from a time when they were dealing with a difficult injury and a family member that got diagnosed with cancer, all as a teenager, would you hold them to the same standards you're holding yourself to? Would you critic them as harshly as you do yourself?" Magda questioned softly.

Marie didn't answer but the look on her face was telling enough.

"You wouldn't, would you? You'd understand that they went through a rough period and needed time to get back on their feet. Give yourself some compassion, allow yourself to physically and emotionally heal without trying to maintain a standard of perfection. Relationship anxiety and self-doubt are extremely normal. You're not a bad person for feeling this way, probably every person on Earth has had these thoughts. I know I have," Magda said, sharing a knowing look with Pernille, who nodded in agreement. "But let's help you break those thought patterns and get you to a healthier mental state"

"That makes a lot of sense. Thank you guys for being understanding and helping me out"

"Of course"

"It's what we're here for"

"So, not to push you or anything, but does that mean you'll stick around for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it does. I can't keep avoiding things that make me anxious"

"They will love you. I know it"

"Let's hope so"

"We're good then?"

"We're good" 

Pernille stood up and opened her arms dramatically. Marie rolled her eyes in amusement, but stood up and went to hug her. Pernille squeezed her tightly and grinned happily, glad to be done with this mess. Marie rubbed Pernille's back before giving it one last gentle pat as she tried to pull away, only for Pernille to shake her head and squeeze her tighter.

"Nope, not done yet. You've got three days to make up for"

"I guess I do owe it to you" Marie said, faking being resigned.

When the next day rolled around and Pernille's parents and sister came over, she introduced them to Marie.

Spoiler Alert: They loved her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relationship anxiety is some of the best angst to write because it destroys everyone involved. Anyway, hope this was good enough to make up for how depressing the last chapter was. Also, hope this redeems how I made both Pernille and Marie act. (Side note: please tell me someone knows who Poirot is because those were my favorite books and show growing up)


	14. I've Got The Sweetest Living Recipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie and Ingrid's coffee shop is forced to combine with a neighboring bakery owned by Pernille and Magda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see! Hope everyone's been doing well. It's been hard to update since Pernille moved teams and there's no real link between her + Magda and Marie + Ingrid but I wanted to write something.
> 
> Title from Recipe by Wild Party

"Who are you and why are you in my coffee shop?"

"Good morning to you too"

"Not what I said"

Pernille ignored the grumpy looking blonde in front of her and continued on, "I'm Pernille, that one over there is Magda. We're the owners of the bakery across the street!”

"That's lovely. Why the fuck are you in my shop"

Magda, who had been putting down boxes in the backroom, whipped around and opened her mouth to tell off the snarky little shit who was being rude to her girlfriend.

"Listen, brat, we're-"

"Shit, shit, shit. Sorry, I'm sorry!" The front door burst open and a leggy girl with jet black hair ran in. "I knew I was forgetting to tell you something. The strip mall over on 95th and 59th, the one with the pet store, is being rebuilt and made bigger. The expansions are happening on their end so they asked us to combine with them for the time being" Ingrid explained all in one breath to Marie, gesturing to the building down the street that was clearly under repairs and then back to Pernille and Magda.

"They asked _us_ huh? How come I don't remember getting a say?"

"Because your say would have been 'no' and that's not very nice"

Marie and Ingrid held a silent debate, which was just Marie glaring while Ingrid pouted, until finally Marie sighed and threw her hands up.

"Fine. Whatever. You can stay here, for now, just don't get in my way" Marie shook her head, annoyed at having her shop invaded, and shoved passed the two other blondes to get behind the counter. Ingrid watched Marie push past them before looking at Pernille and Magda apologetically.

"Sorry about that. She's a little..." 

"Domineering? Territorial?"

"Kinda," Ingrid shrugged sheepishly at Magda's interjection. "This place means a lot to her so she's probably a bit annoyed right now. She'll come around, she's a total softy, I swear it"

"Right." Magda didn't look convinced.

"We got off on the wrong foot, let's start over! I'm Ingrid and that's Marie," A grunt sounded from somewhere in the backroom followed by the noise of several boxes being pushed around. "we co-own Norwegian Wood-Smoked Cafe and we look forward to working with you" Ingrid smiled and stuck out her hand.

Pernille shook it with a matching grin, "I'm Pernille and that's Magda, we run Great Danish Bakery. Pleasure to meet you! I'm sure working together will be gre-"

"What the hell are you doing with our boxes!?"

"Moving them out of the way of my fucking shop!"

"Put them back!"

"No!"

"We need those!"

"Put 'em somewhere else!"

"We need to store our shit somewhere and there's only one backroom, asshole!"

"Not my problem"

"Yeah, well it's gonna become your problem real fucking quick"

Pernille and Ingrid shared nervous glances.

"They'll warm up to each other. Magda's always a little grumpy in the morning anyway"

"For sure. For sure. Marie is too."

A loud noise sounded as a window in the back was yanked open, causing both to jump.

"What are you doing? Hey! Put that box down! If you dump that out the window I'll kick your ass!"

"Come at me scrub-lord, I'm ripped!"

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means go take over someone else's shop!"

Pernille and Ingrid looked over to see Magda blocking the staff-room window with her entire body while Marie tries to get passed her to shove one of the boxes out the window.

"We should probably..."

"Yeah"

* * *

_2 months later_

With Pernille and Magda's shop still under construction, the planned four-week combination had been turned into five weeks, then six, then seven. They were on their second month of staying with the Norwegians and the building was still nowhere near being usable. All four of them could tell that this whole 'working together' thing was not going to be ending anytime soon.

"How many times do I have to tell you! If something is close to being empty, write it on the list on the wall! Don't wait until the last fucking minute"

"It's barely half empty. And since when the hell do you call the shots over here?"

"Since I learned after one day of working with you that you have no sense of organization or efficient planning"

"Just because I don't label binders in my spare time doesn't mean I'm unorganized"

"Actually, Magda doesn't need to label them. She has a very efficient color-coordinating system. She even matches the paper color to the binder! Look, see!"

Ingrid picked up a red binder and held it open, showing the light red papers inside of it. Magda smirked. Marie looked like she could scream.

* * *

_3 months and 2 weeks later_

"Good morning, Marie!"

"Morning, P"

Pernille nudged Magda.

"What? Fine, stop looking at me like that. Good morning, hellspawn"

"My morning is mediocre at best"

"Fine. Shit morning, hellspawn"

"You too, dickwad"

* * *

_5 months later_

"It's a simple system, Dolvik. The list to the left of the red shelf is where you write down orders we need to put in, the list on the right is for orders we've already put in and are waiting on"

"Do we really need a list for things we've already ordered? Just check the computer! If I see a list pinned up I'm putting what we need on it"

"Why waste time checking the computer when you can just look at the list slightly to the right and see? It's an easy system, write shit on the correct list. You're messing with the orders"

" _I'm messing with the orders?_ You came into our shop and just changed our system!"

"I changed it to a better one!"

"What's going on, you two," Ingrid asked, walking over to where the two blondes were fighting. Both at the very least looked slightly guilty at the strict, borderline motherly stare Ingrid was fixing them with and didn't answer. They had been doing this for 5 months and knew neither Ingrid nor Pernille would put up with them pulling any 'I said and then she said' bullshit. "Really, we've been working together for almost half a year and you guys are still arguing about stuff like this! Come on, guys. I know this is hard for both of you, but could you at least try to cooperate with each other? Please?"

She was met with two half-assed mumbles of 'okay. sorry' as Magda rubbed the back of her neck, looking down, and Marie fidgeted awkwardly in place.

"Thank you. Why don't we schedule a time to hang out after work. Get to know each other better outside of a work environment"

"I think that sounds like a great idea! Team bonding!" Pernille called out from where she was cleaning up for the day at the front.

"What, that's a terrible idea! Pernille, please, think about this. Be rational, I'm begging you!" Magda turned to plead to her girlfriend.

"For once in my life, I agree with her. At least at work, I'm getting paid to be around her"

"Nope! It's been decided. A group outing is happening"

Marie and Magda groaned while Pernille and Ingrid air-fived.

"I will finish constructing that damn strip-mall myself, I swear on it"

"You offering to actually do work? Shocking"

"If it means booting your ass"

"You know what, I'm with you"

"See, you two are finding things in common already!"

* * *

_6 months and 1 week later_

"Can I interrupt your not doing anything for you to go put in an order for some things"

"Our supplies or yours?"

"Ours"

"No."

Pernille poked her head into the storage room.

"We could really use the order to be placed soon, would you mind helping us out, please?"

"Huh, oh yeah, I can do it, Pernille. No problem"

"Thank you so much!"

"Anything for you" Marie smiled charmingly at Pernille. Magda scowled.

"You fuck"

* * *

_7 months later_

"Order for table four. One medium vanilla iced coffee half soy, half skinny. One strong, skinny, extra-hot cappuccino. Two blueberry bagels, lightly toasted with, and I quote, 'the perfect amount of cream-cheese'. He did not specify what that entails despite me asking for clarification, so I'm choosing to interpret the 'perfect amount' to be barely any"

"That's the perfect amount for us to save a bit of cash. Gonna guess that's going to the guys in the pretentious ass private school uniforms"

"Who else?"

"It definitely wouldn't be for that guy in a business suit who ordered black coffee but adds sugar to it any time his coworker looks away"

"Oh my God. He comes in here and does this every week. He uses up all the sweeteners we leave out! Just order coffee with cream and sugar man, it's not hard"

"Probably thinks adding cream and sugar is too feminine or some shit. Because real men are only allowed to drink shit coffee apparently. Speaking of which, we're almost out of equal packets, could you write that on the list"

"I already wrote it down"

"Honestly, Marie it's not rocket- wait, seriously?"

"We only had half a box left so I wrote it down"

"On the list to the left of the red shelf?"

"Yeah, was that the wrong list?"

"No, no. You're good. Uh... thanks"

"Yeah. Sure"

"I'm gonna go start that order"

"Yup"

"Okay"

Magda blinked a couple of times, not used to talking with Marie for that long without getting annoyed, but then shook her head to clear it and walked to the toaster to put the bagels in. 

"Hey, Pernille, can you get started on the iced-coffee for me. Pernille? Did you not hear the order?"

"What... No, I heard it. It's just... Did you and Marie just have, not only a civil conversation, but one that could be considered... friendly?"

"Don't make it weird"

"You totally did! Ingrid's and my plan is working!"

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face and get back to work"

* * *

_7 months and 15 days later_

"You and Magda haven't gone off on each other in a while, you feeling okay?"

"Shut up. I've just learned it's better to give in to her crazy micromanaging, that's all. Not gonna waste my energy arguing with her, might as well be yelling at a sock puppet with all the good it does"

"Hmmm. Okay"

"What? What's with that tone? I'm serious!"

"I just didn't realize giving into her micromanaging would entail you and her laughing together at the front counter"

"We were just making fun of the customers. Sharing a mutual hatred makes people work together easier, it's science"

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Pernille pointed out us laughing together too, even though both of you should be doing your jobs instead of staring at Magda and me,"

"It's a good view"

"Hush, you. Anyway, Pernille started on the same bs you're on about and," Marie paused. "You know what. Nevermind"

"You fucking got it from Magda"

"I read it on twitter"

"I can recognize Magda's nerdy facts anywhere. You totally got it from her!"

"It's an interesting fact, that's all. Go do your damn job"

"You two are becoming friends" Ingrid sang cheekily as she skipped off, most likely to share what just happened with Pernille.

* * *

_7 months and 22 days later later_

Ever since they had gotten home from work, Pernille had been taking glances at her every couple minutes. Magda knew there was something she wanted to say. She also knew what it was Pernille wanted to say. Which is exactly why she groaned as soon as Pernille opened her mouth.

"I just think it's cute that she has a pet name for you"

"One, not a pet name. Two, she's just too lazy to pronounce two syllables"

"Maggie has the same amount of syllables as Magda"

Magda opened her mouth but then shut it.

"Why is it so hard for you both to admit to being friends! There's not a rule in the universe that says you have to be enemies"

"It's a dignity thing"

"Dramatic ass"

"She's just..." Magda flailed her hands.

"That explains everything, thank you so much. It's so sexy when you use that expansive vocabulary of yours to paint such detailed pictures for me"

Magda shot her an exasperated look, "It's like, I like things in my life to be organized and neat and she just tosses shit around and let's whatever happens happen"

"Are you really holding back being friends with her for the same reason cats and dogs don't like each other"

"Not all cats and dogs dislike each other. There are tons who get along just fine"

Pernille gave her an unimpressed look. "Don't change the subject"

"I'm just used to having a system that maximizes efficiency and her impulsiveness is just so annoying. She'll just randomly change up the menu or move things around or order different colored cups-"

"Different colored cups, how dare she"

"You're funny"

"I know"

"And humble"

"The humblest"

"The most humble"

"Thank you"

"I was correcting... Forget about it. Anyway, it's just so difficult when she makes changes without consulting us. Like when she changes menu names! Having people order a drink and not knowing what it is because she decided to mix things up just wastes time. Also putting an extra bitter espresso shot on the menu just to call it the Magdalena Eriksson is petty and you know it. No one wants to order that, she's just a little shit. She just wants to get a rise out of me. If she wasn't hot when smirking I would have punched her. Seriously, she is so lucky she's cute when she has that stupid goofy grin on her face otherwise I would kill her for fucking with me like this. Like I know she acts even less organized just to annoy me! She makes sure I'm looking when she's doing something that messes with my system. The other day she waited for me to look over before she put the napkins box on the shelves for plastic items. Didn't even leave the opening facing out for easy access. I haven't even mentioned how she never puts the sugar packets in the right holders. One is clearly for Splenda, another for Equal, and then one for Sweet N Low. It looks awful to just have them all mixed together. Our customers shouldn't have to play where's waldo for a sugar packet! I feel like it takes more effort for her to put them in the wrong spot anyway. Just open a box and put all the packets in the container, easy, done"

"You think she's hot?"

"What?"

"You said she's hot and you like her smile"

"I didn't say that"

"Yes. You did"

"No, I think I would know if I said something like that"

"You 100% said you haven't punched her cause you think she's hot"

"If I said something like that, _**only if**_ , it would simply be objectively. Lots of people would think she's attractive"

"Would lots of people like her smile when she's happy with annoying you?"

"I said her smile was cute, not that I liked it"

"So you do remember saying it!"

"Why do you seem so overjoyed at me calling another girl cute?"

"I'm not overjoyed"

"Yes. You are"

"If I am overjoyed, _**only if**_ , it's because I'm happy you said something positive about her. Besides, you're not wrong, she and Ingrid are both attractive"

"When did Ingrid get brought into this?"

“They’re a package deal!”

“The conversation was about Marie”

"Marie, Marie and Ingrid. Same thing"

"..."

“You started this by calling her hot”

“Objectively hot”

“...”

“...”

“Sooo..." Pernille coughed awkwardly into her hand.

"Why don't we just watch tv"

"Good idea"

* * *

_8 months and 3 weeks later_

Between working together at the café and scheduling the occasional meet up outside of work, the four were steadily working into an easy rhythm. Magda and Marie still butted heads on certain aspects of running the shop but had gotten better at compromising. Marie would make an effort to be more organized and Magda would attempt to be a bit more relaxed about everything having to be perfect. Everything was going well and all of them couldn't be happier. Marie and Ingrid's top-quality drinks served with Magda and Pernille's perfectly crafted baked goods had gotten the place a lot of attention. Things were perfect, so Ingrid couldn't be more confused about why Marie seemed so weird all of a sudden?

She and Marie were driving home and she couldn't help but feel as if something was off with her girlfriend. She seemed quiet, almost withdrawn. Her loud, clown of a girlfriend had been dimmed and Ingrid hated that more than anything.

"Is anything on your mind?"

"Hmm? Oh. No. I'm alright"

"You and Magda aren't having any issues again, are you?"

"No, we're good. She's still a pain in the ass but we're good" A slight smile appeared on Marie's face as she said this.

"You should give the poor girl a break sometimes, babe"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

Ingrid laughed, "Sure you don't"

The rest of the ride was filled with casual conversation mixed with light background music playing from the radio. It was a short drive with barely any traffic and soon they arrived at their destination. Marie parked into their driveway and they both made their way inside. 

Marie was at the sink in their bathroom, washing her face, when she felt two arms slide around her waist and Ingrid's head being laid on her shoulder.

"Hey"

"Hey" Marie turned her head to the side to kiss Ingrid's cheek before resuming her night routine.

"Having Pernille and Magda around the place has been really nice"

Marie froze but then slowly nodded, "Yeah. It has"

"Having two extra hands on deck is always useful, and people really seem to be liking the menu. Not to mention how much they've helped us with the business side of things"

"For sure"

"I've honestly just gotten really used to having them around"

"Yeah"

"Pernille's so good with everyone and just lights up the shop. And the amount of work Magda has put in is just so sweet and thoughtful" Ingrid trailed off but met Marie's eyes in the mirror. They stayed silent for a bit.

"Is it bad that I kind of don't want their shop to get finished?" Marie asked quietly.

"I feel the same way. It's gonna suck when they're gone. They haven't even been here a year and I already can't imagine working without them"

"I take back all that shit I said at the beginning, about wanting them out as quick as possible. I don't want that anymore" Marie said sadly, leaning back into Ingrid's embrace.

"I know. Me too. Me too"

* * *

_11 months later_

"Pernille, Magda, would you two mind coming in here for a second?"

"Not at all"

"Be right there"

Magda and Pernille walked into the backroom where Marie and Ingrid were waiting. Ingrid was leaning against the desk while Marie was upside down in the office chair spinning in circles. Seeing Pernille and Magda walk in, Ingrid grabbed the back of Marie's chair to stop her spinning.

"What's up" Magda asked.

"So, Marie and I have been thinking about this for a while now. It's been almost a year and your shop is still under construction" Ingrid started and then was cut off by Pernille.

"We know, apparently they ran into legal trouble when they tried to expand into the field next to it. We're really sorry about how much of a process this has been. We honestly thought it would be a month at most"

"No, no, it's fine. You guys are fine. It's not your fault" Marie reassured her quickly, sitting up properly in the chair.

"We, well, we were actually wondering if maybe you guys wanted to just move in here permanently? It's just been working really well, our drinks and your food. People love the combo. And I think the four of us have gotten into a really good pattern of working together. You don't have to say yes, obviously, it was just a thought"

"You guys can have time to think it over, talk it out with each other, and then get back to us" Marie finished.

"I think we already know our answer, but we'll talk it over together tonight and get back to you in the morning" Magda said and Pernille nodded her agreement. She wanted to talk it over with Pernille in private and make sure they both had time to think about it before making the final decision.

"That sounds perfect" Ingrid beamed at the two and they couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

_6 years later_

Norwegian Wood-Smoked Cafe and Great Danish Bakery, now combined and known as Scandi Specialty Serves, had become a very popular joint. Business, which was already good to begin with, was now booming.

"Order for one large decaf, double cream, double sugar, and a chocolate muffin over at table 1"

"On it"

Locals loved the drinks, the food, and most of all, the four friendly faces that had owned the place. Lots of people who lived in the area became regulars at the establishment very quickly and any visitors, if they ever asked for a good place to get some food, would be promptly directed there. 

"P, can you write down that we need more cup sleeves"

"Yup"

The strip mall that used to house Pernille and Magda's shop had never finished being rebuilt and instead was completely torn down. It was replaced with a grocery store instead.

"Have you noticed that business suit guy is no longer dumping all our sugar into his coffee?"

"I decided to give the guy a break and just put it in for him"

Work flows smooth and the four move around each other like a well-oiled machine. Orders are put in and served out quickly with little to no issues, except when-

"Table 2 wants one Magdalena Eriksson and a mocha cappuccino"

"I'm sorry, a what?"

"It's a vanilla tall blonde, extra-strong"

"Fucking dammit, stop laughing and tell your wife to stop messing with the names"

"She's your wife, too"

"Unfortunately"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I'll be continuing this since the two couples no longer overlap on any teams. It's kinda hard to write when there's zero interactions between the two couples and most likely won't be any interactions for a long time. Knowing that Pernille leaving Wolfsburg has most likely reduced her relationships with Marie and Ingrid down to a casual acquaintanceship at best instead of the constant outings they would do together kinda dampers the fun. In my heart I'll always remember how close Pernille was with both Marie and Ingrid but unfortunately they don't play on club teams together anymore. Maybe one day Ingrid or Marie will wind up on a team with Pernille or Magda again and I can have the motivation to pick this back up. I’m still open to writing, just need to pic a couple I want to write about.


End file.
